World Crossing
by pgasniper
Summary: "Unless you can stop it, in five months time our worlds will face their biggest crisis: either they will be fused together, or all dimensions will be completely annihilated. You humans, along with the Smashers are our only hope to stop this crisis."
1. The happy-go-lucky world of Nintendo!

**Disclaimer: Due to this being Fanfiction, I don't own Smash Brothers, Nintendo, Sonic the Hedgehog, Metal Gear Solid, Mega Man, Pac-Man, or any other properties that may show up in this fic. I will only own the OC's.  
><strong>

**Other stuff:**

**Well, I'm not going to bore you with the author notes / intro, so I'll make it really quick:**

**Welcome to World Crossing! It's a sequel to one of my other stories Trapped in the Brawl. While it's not really required to read, that story does have some background information, world building and all that fun stuff, and I personally think of it as an extended prologue. (Laughs nervously)**

**So, this will be my foray into the whole, "Normal Human teams up with Smashers, to fight evil, and crossover into other video games for an adventure" Subgenre of fics that this section has no shortage of.**

**As you know, OC's are the nature of the beast of these fics, and this one is no different. Long story short: There are OC's. I've taken measures so that the Smashers won't disappear completely from the fic.**

**That's all I want to say right now, I'll save everything else for later down below.**

**But, let's start with the overly pretentious quote!**

* * *

><p><em>What if everything that you see, is more than what you see? The person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a door to another world? <em>

_What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it or accept that there is more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things._

_~ Shigeru Miyamoto_

* * *

><p>Chapter 1: The happy-go-lucky world of Nintendo!<p>

There are other worlds and dimensions out there, but not everybody knows that they exist. Those that do unfortunately can't normally interact with them. A man named Nugai has two theories on how these other worlds and dimensions came to be.

The first, he said in this world there are those who are able to create other worlds. These people he has called the Makers. But, tragically, these Makers don't know that they have this power. They just continue their normal days, making the world either through writing a book, comic book, movie, TV series, programming a game, or creating any other form of media, or just through day dreaming.

The other way, he speculated, is that these worlds always existed, and that the Makers were able to access them on a subconscious level. They visited the world that they would then 'create' through their dreams, or just knew from a sudden flash of inspiration and created that world for human consumption. Tragically, they were still unable to fully go into those worlds. They just had their brief flashes. He leaned towards this theory, because the subconscious of others also seemed to affect the worlds, but he didn't know if it truly was them affecting the world, or the worlds affecting us.

Nugai, was apart of another group that he had dubbed the Travelers. Unlike the Makers they were a group of people who could freely crossover into the new worlds, for a time.

But not all Travelers knew they had this power.

Some people, who vanish off of the face of the earth with out a trace, have this ability. In some cases, they were found days, weeks, months, or even years later, and they were different. Some acted like shell-shocked veterans. Others were just perfectly fine. They said that they had visited a fantasy world. They would either think that it was a dream, or they were swiftly silenced. Those that seeped through the cracks were lucky. However, no one believed them. After all they sounded far too crazy.

* * *

><p>"You met Mario? Geeze, you really shouldn't have drank all that much last night."<p>

"But, I didn't have anything."

"Yeah right. You just got so plastered that you thought everything was coming out of the TV."

"But... it actually happened."

* * *

><p>"What?! You were going through the Pokemon world?"<p>

"Yeah, I was running through the fields, I had a Pikachu following me!"

"Geeze, next he's going to tell us his uncle works at Nintendo."

"Yeah. He's just trying to get attention. Let's leave him alone"

* * *

><p>"Running through Green Hill zone is so amazing! The wind is just pushing your back!"<p>

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"I went into Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"What? Come on, you were just running in that giant field behind your house, weren't you?"

* * *

><p>Yes, those who told others were almost immediately dismissed, as just overactive imaginative children, drunkards, or just plain insane. But there were two who didn't follow this pattern. One became known as Nugai, and the other became known as The Reaper.<p>

"Something happened!" Nugai said.

"Oh? What?" The Reaper asked.

"Okay, look, this is going to sound completely crazy, but I went inside the TV and into the video game."

"Geeze, everyone at school is right, you are obsessed with video games."

"I'm telling you the truth, and I can prove it!" Nugai said.

"Yeah right." The Reaper scoffed.

And just like that Nugai placed his hand on the TV Screen. The solid glass soon became like liquid and he went into the TV. He came out and dragged the Reaper in.

How would of things been different if this event had never occurred?

Who knows? They probably would have grown up normally and gotten boring 9-5 jobs.

Years passed, and then a tragedy occurred, The Reaper 'died' in a car accident, as a last ditch effort to save himself he used his power to go into the other world and received treatment there, but soon found out that he could not return. Nugai, who had forced himself to forget about the other world, was dragged in one day, where he had to fight against his old friend The Reaper. And then uncovering a conspiracy under the name of "Project Fantasia" that would fuse all the dimensions into one, allowing anyone access to what they believed to be fictional worlds.

Eventually Nugai was able to return back to his normal world, with some minor edits. He was able to temporarily block access to the other dimensions, but he knew one day, at least seven years from that adventure, the seal would break, as there were those on his side who wished to profit from the worlds fusing.

And now, something is beginning, almost 7 years after Nugai was dragged in and defeated the Reaper, the barrier that he set up between worlds had weakened greatly.

This is the story of a small group of people who can cross dimensions, and their fight to protect both sides. This is the struggle of the Smashers, to prevent complete and total destruction of all existence. This is the story of a man who simply wished to save lives.

But above all else, this is the story of Project Fantasia.

* * *

><p>In a mansion, overlooking a city, a group of people known as the Smashers live. They were united by a being known as Master Hand, for the purpose of defeating evil and protecting their worlds. Their age, or even former alliance didn't matter; they were just people, or even robots, connected by the goal of defeating evil.<p>

But for right now they were relaxing. Outside, the kid Smashers were playing a game of soccer. The kid Smashers was a subset within the Smashers, a group consisting of the younger Smashers. They included a blonde boy named Lucas, a black haired kid with a baseball cap named Ness, a blonde swordsman named Toon Link, a boy in a bluish purplish parka named Popo, a girl in a pink parka named Nana, and another boy named Red.

There was also another boy who wasn't a Smasher, but was playing with them, he was a brown haired boy strangely named Villager, despite his young age and strange name, most people are shocked to find out that he is actually a mayor of a nearby village called Smashville.

There was also another boy named Rock. He also wasn't a Smasher, but was a robot from the nearby Light Laboratories. Dr. Light had created him, and his sister Roll, a blonde haired robot that wore a red dress and was currently sitting on the sidelines cheering them on. They came over to the Smashers' occasionally on Dr. Light's request for interaction with humans.

Currently the group of kids were just playing a game of soccer, or at least they were trying to. The game had degenerated into who could hit the ball the hardest without actually breaking it. Ness jumped up, high into the air to intercept the ball and then kicked it back towards a makeshift goalie net. The soccer ball was now suddenly on fire. It was the result of Ness having mixed in some psychic energy to his kick. He just waited to see if anyone was brave enough to try and block it. Ness just glanced down at Lucas and Popo, he figured those two would be the only ones able to do it.

But, suddenly, someone covered in a cloak jumped out of the nearby forest and stopped the ball with his barefoot. The air seemed to ripple from the two colliding, and then the person and the soccer ball landed gracefully on the ground.

The kid Smashers stared in shock at the newcomer. He just lightly kicked the ball back to them. The kid Smashers were a bit confused, and shocked by his sudden appearance. Not to mention there was the fact that he was barefoot, and having just come from a forest.

"Hello, I'm sorry for intruding, but I'm looking for Master Hand." He said.

They were all a bit apprehensive about the strange person's sudden appearance. Not to mention with how he intercepted the ball, they could tell that he wasn't normal. Ness, a psychic, tried to read his mind, but quickly found it was blocked. He quickly pulled out a baseball bat that he had concealed somewhere and glared at the newcomer. The other kid Smashers followed suit and pulled out some weapons. "V, Rock, get back." Ness said, with a surprising amount of authority in his voice. The two just quickly complied; figuring out the person was dangerous. "Who are you? And why can't I read your mind?"

"Is that what you were trying to do?" the cloaked person said a bit surprised. "I'm sorry, I just naturally block out all psychics now."

"You're not normal." Ness said.

"You're right, I'm not," the cloaked person said. He raised up his arms and hands so that they visible and not being concealed by the rather baggy cloak. "Please, I mean you no harm."

"Can you prove it?" Ness said.

"Beyond that you're all still alive?" The cloaked person said. "You there, Lucas, why don't you go to Master Hand and tell him that someone named Nugai would like to meet with him."

Lucas looked rather shocked. "How do you know my name?"

"I know all about you Smashers." Nugai said. "Ness, Nana, Popo, Red, Toon Link..."

They were just stunned at how the person they had never met before knew them.

"And you must be Villager and Mega Man." Nugai said. "My cousin won't shut up about you guys."

They just stood there and looked at the cloaked figure confused. "Are you even sane?" Toon Link asked.

"Some would say no." Nugai replied. "So, Lucas are you going to get Master Hand or not?"

"He's not your carrier pigeon." Ness snapped. "We don't even know what you look like underneath that cloak, whether you're hiding any weapons or not. Toon, why don't you get that cloak off of him!?"

Toon Link pulled out a giant leaf and then sent a gust of wind that blew away the cloak.

The person underneath didn't react. He just let the hood fly down and the cape fly back. It stayed on him, mainly because his arms were in the sleeves still. Nugai was wearing rather casual clothing. A pair of jeans, and a black t-shirt. As for his face, he had rather long dark hair, but it looked like it was kind of greasy, that he hadn't seen a shower in a few days. He also had a beard starting to grow, mainly because he hadn't shaved in a week.

"So do I get to see Master Hand now?" Nugai wondered. "Or are you going to frisk me for any concealed weapons too?"

"Fine, Lucas, go get him." Ness said.

Lucas just nodded and ran off to the Smash Mansion. Nugai on the other hand sat down on the grass. The Kid Smashers didn't resume their game of soccer. They just edged away from Nugai and made it extremely clear that they didn't trust him in the slightest and were on the look out for any funny moves.

A few minutes later Lucas came back. "Master Hand said he wasn't seeing anyone..."

Nugai let off a heavy sigh. He got up, not exactly looking amused. "I don't have time for this." He muttered to himself. He glanced at the kid Smashers. "Ness, lead the way to Master Hand's office." his tone had drastically changed; he had made it abundantly clear that it wasn't a request. It was an order.

Ness however either didn't pick up on it, or was really getting tired of this person. "No, leave. You're clearly not someone important."

Nugai just disappeared. The next thing Ness knew was that he was on the ground looking up at the sky. Nugai was stepping on him and had a sword out right by his neck. "You misunderstood, that wasn't a request."

The other Smashers were too shocked to react. Ness just stared terrified at Nugai. As for Nugai, there was a certain look of sadness in his face, as though it pained him to do this. Ten seconds had passed and Popo was the first to react. "Hey, get off of Ness!" He shouted bringing out a hammer and rushing towards Nugai. Popo swung the hammer with his full strength, however Nugai just blocked the attack with his hand. Popo didn't follow through with any other attacks he just fell to his knees absolutely terrified.

"Hey get off of Ness!" Nana shouted running towards Nugai.

"Stop!" Popo shouted. The cry of her brother froze the other ice climber. She looked at Popo. "He's too powerful..."

She didn't attempt another attack.

The sword in Nugai's hand then vanished. "Ness, will you take me to Master Hand's office." Nugai said, stepping off of his stomach and extending his arm downwards.

Ness just nodded, and took his hand, Nugai just pulled him up. "Follow me."

Nugai just followed Ness as they went towards the mansion.

Nana just rushed up to her brother. "Why did you stop me?" She asked.

Popo just shook his head. "That guy... as soon as he blocked my attack, I could feel how strong he was. He may even dwarf Master Hand in power..."

Ness occasionally glanced back to see if Nugai was still following him. Nugai had put his hood back up over his head. "You're crying..." Ness said.

"Guess even if I block out your psychic abilities there are just some things that I can't hide."

"Why are you crying?" Ness asked.

"You reminded me of an old friend, and just you not recognizing me made that fear of the old friend not recognizing me come out." Nugai replied.

"What was his name?"

"Lane." Nugai replied.

They got to the front door of the mansion. Ness just opened it and the two of them walked through the hallways, occasionally passing another Smasher. They would look at Nugai suspiciously, but Ness just reassured them that it was okay, or at least he hoped that it was okay. In one of the hallways, Ness tried to at least get some small talk out of him. "Just who are you?" Ness wondered. "You blocked that soccer ball with your bare foot?"

"I didn't just use my barefoot." Nugai said. "I used Aura to protect my foot, and cancel the blast."

"Still, that probably required a great amount of skill!" Ness said. "Where did you learn aura mastery like that?"

"A Lucario taught me." Nugai said.

"Wow, that's cool!" Ness said.

They finally made it to two large doors. Ness reached for the door, however the cloaked figure's hand shot up first and he opened the door. Ness was actually rather surprised that the cloaked figure had the strength to open the doors. They were intentionally made rather heavy so that the Smashers couldn't interrupt whatever Master Hand would do behind the doors. Suddenly two golden bullets rushed for the cloaked figure. They just exploded in midair, not even touching him, but a gust of wind suddenly pushed his cloak off.

"How many times do I have to tell you to knock first!" Master Hand's voice boomed.

"Sorry, but you never told me that, Hand." Nugai said.

"Nugai!?" Master Hand said surprised.

The doors suddenly slammed shut with Ness just standing on the other side. He tried to press his ear against the door to hear what was going on, but the room was perfectly soundproofed.

"So, what did you find out about that guy?" A voice asked.

Ness turned around to see Villager right behind him, Ness guessed that he had been trailing them. With how frequent Villager was over with the Kid Smashers, not many other Smashers would bat an eye; it was almost like he fit in. And even then, he knew where nearly everything was in the mansion. "Not much, V." Ness sighed. "But he seemed to know Master Hand."

"He overpowered you and Popo pretty quickly too." Villager said.

Ness just nodded. "Yeah… that's kind of scary considering how strong Popo is with his hammer."

"Popo was saying that as soon as his hammer touched him, he could feel the depth of his power." Villager said.

Ness just nodded. "I'm just glad he's on our side... I kind of wonder what they're talking about in there though..."

"If it's important, I'm sure you guys will hear about it soon enough." Villager laughed.

"Yeah, I guess that's right." Ness said.

"Well, I guess I better go back to my town." Villager sighed.

"Do you want me to escort you back?" Ness wondered.

"Yeah sure." Villager laughed.

Around the Smash Mansion, the other Smashers were also doing their normal things. Mario, Luigi, Wario and Peach were out playing tennis. Olimar was gardening. Captain Falcon was working on his Blue Falcon in the garage.

Kirby was running away from a frustrated Link who had been trying to bake a cake for Zelda, but Kirby had stolen and eaten it.

For the most part, things were peaceful.

But up in Master Hand's office, things weren't at all peaceful. "Are you sure?" Master Hand asked.

"Yes. Positive." Nugai said. "By the end of summer. In just about 5 months time."

"That doesn't give us a lot of time." Master Hand said annoyed. The giant hand just let off a sigh. "Why are you coming to me now? You should have been here earlier."

"I'm sorry." Nugai sighed. "Unfortunately, it seems that the wall that's between our two dimensions only recently became filled with holes and things have been slipping through."

"Really? Just recently?" Master Hand said rather surprised.

"Well, there has been the odd time it's happened before. March 9th, 2008, there was Pokemon Platinum on May 14th, 2009, there was also the Kid Icarus Uprising's launch on March 23, 2012... but most of the time I was able to deal with the small things myself." Nugai sighed. "Only recently has it become more of a problem, that I'm sure it will break soon."

"I see." Master Hand replied.

"So, I devised this plan." Nugai said. He pulled out a USB stick and tossed it to Master Hand. The giant glove caught it and just began to fiddle with it.

"What is this?"

"The key to everyone's hope. Or the key to their despair." Nugai said. "On the USB stick is further instructions, and a program."

"The key to everyone's hope or their despair?" Master Hand said confused.

Nugai just nodded. "Yes." He said. "Unfortunately, I can't say that I came up with a foolproof plan. It's going to be a really long hard battle, and I might not even survive..."

"Nugai..." Master Hand calmly said. He just floated there. "You've all ready made up your mind, haven't you? Or rather, you've all ready seen your death, way back then."

Nugai just nodded. "There are things that only I can do. The stage has been set for someone else to take over. And that's the first part of my plan. I've chosen my piece; up next is your turn. You have to choose your pieces."

"My pieces?" Master Hand said confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"First, you will send out two Smashers, any two of your choice and tell them to find my successor. They will find him." Nugai said.

"So, it can be any two." Master Hand said.

"Yes." Nugai replied. "Send them out tonight, and hopefully they will find each other quickly. Next, once those two are sent out, you are going to find 12 other humans who have the potential to cross over into this dimension if the wall wasn't there. Any 12 will do. You will also send over two Smashers to each of them, forming a group of three."

"Might I ask why?"

"It's for basic knowledge of how our world works. They are to act as guides. That, and you need them to send anything that crosses over back. Hence, why they also have to have the potential to cross over." Nugai said. "Now, put that USB into the computer."

Master Hand put the USB stick into a computer and things began to appear on the monitor. "What's this?" Master Hand asked.

"My answer remains the same, humanities hope." Nugai responded. "Or their despair. The choice of the 12 humans is entirely up to you. In the end, my successor, and those twelve will work together."

"What?" Master Hand said.

"Did I stutter? I've chosen my successor, and they will work with him. He is far more well suited for this job than I am." Nugai said. He threw over a portfolio to Master Hand who just began to rummage through it. Much to his surprise, it seemed that someone actually remembered he was a giant white glove incapable of actually seeing anything and it was all in braille. Everything except for a picture of the person.

"What is this?" Master Hand just asked shocked.

"A portfolio." Nugai replied. "And you can cut the blind man act, I know you can see things quite clearly."

If one was just a bystander in the room, you could get the impression of Master Hand glaring at Nugai. "I guess I can't hide things from you." Master Hand laughed. The photo just floated up in front of him. "This person is the one you've chosen?"

"Of course." Nugai said. "I'm sure he will be satisfactory. Of course, if you don't like him you can always try to eliminate him, that is if you can."

"Do you know who this is?" Master Hand asked.

"More or less." Nugai said.

"Why? Why would you do this? Why would you choose him?" Master Hand just repeated.

"Because, he is the one I believe can get the job done." Nugai said.

"But earlier you said it was the 12's choices that would lead to humanity's hope or despair. With him, it will only lead to despair." Master Hand said. "Just why did you choose him?"

"He's my cousin." Nugai said. "That's all he is. Now if you don't mind, let's talk about something else."

"Your Cousin?!" Master Hand said shocked. "But that's..."

"I said let's talk about something else." Nugai said, cutting him off. "I don't have much time left and there is much to go over with the limited time I do have."

Master Hand didn't press further. Their talks continued for another hour. Nugai was discussing his plans in greater detail and what he had found out about the current situation. "Everything will start to crossover here at this point, however, it will begin to spread out later. If my calculations are correct, we have 5 months before Project Fantasia is fully executed."

"5 Months, huh?" Master Hand said.

"It doesn't seem like a long time." Nugai sighed. "But, it's what we have."

Master Hand just nodded. "Your plan is crazy, and it might doom humanity."

"Its a risk I'm willing to take." Nugai said. "Maybe it's because of detachment because of the power I hold, or just general cynicism. But, over the past few years I've wondered if humanity is even worth saving. All the good we've done, and all the evil we've done in our history, all of the selfishness. If it was up to me, I would have chosen to damn humanity. That's why I chose him, he will be able to make the choice that I won't have the courage to. The choice that I'm too bitter to make…"

"Nugai, what's happened to you in your world?" Master Hand asked.

"Once I leave, you need to choose your 12 right away and then send two Smashers to each to meet them." Nugai said, dodging Master Hand's question.

"Nugai, you didn't answer my question."

Nugai just looked rather distant. "Sorry, but my time here is up. Perhaps, I'll be able to tell you next time. Now, give these to the Smashers who you choose to go find my successor, it was the only thing I wasn't able to give to them." From underneath the cloak he pulled out a small little card holder. It just floated from his hand to in front of Master Hand. "I've got to return, otherwise they will be getting suspicious. We'll meet again, Master Hand."

"Wait you're not able to meet with your successor?" Master Hand blurted out, but Nugai had vanished into thin air before he was even able to finish the sentence.

Master Hand floated behind his desk. He looked over the papers of the 13th person that Nugai had chosen. "Nugai's successor..." He didn't exactly believe that Nugai would choose him under normal conditions. But... that was his choice, and he did say something along the lines of if he didn't like it he could be eliminated. Nugai's cousin, Master Hand just laughed wondering what the boy would think of Nugai if he heard him say that.

There was also the issue of choosing 12 others. And with only 5 months time left, he couldn't exactly waste his time choosing. Any second wasted choosing the 12 representatives, would be a second less for them to fight against Project Fantasia. He looked at the general area on the map, of where Nugai said that the crossing over would start.

"I need 12 people. They need to be knowledgeable about our world, and have the potential to cross over." Master Hand said.

* * *

><p>Ness had returned back to the Smash Mansion after dropping Villager off at his town. He made his way up to Master Hand's office, only to see Popo was sitting against the wall. "They're still at it?" Ness wondered.<p>

"Yeah..." Popo sighed. "This must be something important."

"Well, let's go get some food." Ness said.

Popo just nodded in agreement.

* * *

><p>Master Hand had chosen the 12 people. With what limited information he had, he figured that they were the best choice. They were the closest to the main area of where all the crossing over would be happening. They were knowledgeable about their world and the people it. But most importantly, he felt that at least one of these 12 would be able to eliminate Nugai's successor.<p>

He looked over the program. They would be given powers somehow... Nugai also made it so that if their 3DS was destroyed, their memories would be erased, and they would be back into their normal life. It was a strange safety net, the hand originally thought. But then Nugai had explained it to the hand.

* * *

><p>"It's a game. The one who get's the most respect and allies, or the last one standing is the winner and will be the leader. "<p>

"What?" Master Hand said.

"The rules are simple. Don't you think?"

"But… all of them will be in danger!" Master Hand said.

"Yes, but is that any different from the danger that they will be facing elsewhere?" Nugai wondered. "The monsters that they will be fighting."

"Monsters?"

"I've mostly been taking care of it myself." Nugai sighed. "As great as my power is, it is limited and it's at the point where I need others to intercept them and send them back… Plus, if I'm the one doing all of the work, no one else will be trained for fighting against them in case the worst case scenario happens."

"And what about the other applicants. They could eliminate the each other…"

"I know." Nugai bluntly said. "In fact, I've fully planned for it. It's to build up the ideal strike force to fight back against the worlds fusing. If there is someone that they don't like, or think won't be beneficial to their goal, they can eliminate them."

"But that would also include your…"

"I know." Nugai said bluntly. "The first rules of creating a game is that they have to be fair, and apply to everyone, right?"

* * *

><p>He glanced back at the file that Nugai had given him, he was sure he wasn't being told the whole story. But right now, it wasn't exactly the time for that.<p>

"Damn it Nugai." Master Hand said pounding his fist against his desk. "What are you plotting?" He glanced over to the shadows in the room. Standing there was perhaps one of his most loyal Smashers, who stood there throughout the whole meeting with Nugai. Master Hand was positive that he hadn't noticed the watcher. "I'll be sending you out as one of the Smashers." Master Hand said. "Greninja. I'm thinking as one of the Smashers supporting 1 of the 12."

"Nin!" Greninja said.

"Don't worry I'll be fine." Master Hand sighed. He read through what Nugai was proposing once again. He didn't particularly like it, but it was as of right now their only choice for trying to stop Project Fantasia.

Greninja just bowed right before Master Hand. "Nin!" He said.

Master Hand floated there. "You have a request?" Master Hand said shocked.

Greninja just nodded. "Nin!"

Master Hand just floated there. "I'll think about it." He said. Greninja just disappeared back into the shadows.

He then moved on to the much harder choice. He had to choose two Smashers to go and meet Nugai's successor. And not just any two, they would have to be able to strike him down at a moment's notice. He had two in mind, two that had monsters inside of them as well. If it came down to it, they would be able to do it. For now, he decided to trust in Nugai's plan. He then reached for a buzzer. It was time to call together all of the Smashers and brief them on this.

* * *

><p>The alarm sounded throughout the Smash Mansion. All of the Smashers just looked around a bit confused. Once they realized what was happening, a few of them got some smiles across their faces. It had been a long time since many of them had heard that alarm.<p>

They made their way down to a briefing room

It was just a rather stereotypical meeting room. Just a large room with a bunch of tables, some chairs, and a podium for Master Hand to float behind, and then a screen. He looked at all of the Smashers as they took their seats. He was nervous to say the least. He didn't know how the Smashers would actually react to this news that he was about to tell them.

He cleared his non-existent throat and began. "Greetings Smashers." He said. All of them just looked at the giant hand. Beside him was his brother Crazy hand who was just waving at all of the Smashers non stop.

"I've called together this emergency meeting for several reasons. The first and most important reason is because we now have a giant crisis that we must face!"

Everyone just immediately looked around the room a bit confused.

"Hey, you're not going to ease us into this, tell us a few jokes, make us loosen up before you start all this?" Falco asked concerned.

"Sorry, time is of the essence." Master Hand said.

All of the Smashers just looked around rather concerned. They had never seen the hand like this.

"Smashers, in approximately 5 months time, our world, no our dimension will face it's biggest crisis." Master Hand said. Behind him on the screen appeared two spheres. "Please turn your attention to the screen. These spheres represent two different dimensions. One is our world and the other is a world that is parallel to ours. However, in recent times the people from the other world have been trying to teleport into our own. This hasn't been without negative effects. The two dimensions are slowly fusing together."

"What!"

Everyone was rather surprised by the news they just looked at the two hands in shock. "Yes, it's true." Master Hand said. "The two dimensions are slowly becoming one. There have been many cases of disappearances. I think that is the result of other people just simply going into this other world by mistake."

"So, what's our job?" Mario asked.

"We're going to go into the other world." Master Hand said. "And while we're there, we're going to try and stop them from fusing."

Pit just looked up. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Yes." Master Hand said. "It's a world full of unknowns, but I have prepared a plan for it. I am going to select 24 of you Smashers, and then divide them those chosen into 12 groups of two. The 12 groups are then going to find 12 people over there who have the potential to to cross over into our world. If you're not chosen, please don't be upset. There is a chance that later there is the possibility that we will be sending a third Smasher to each group."

On the screen appeared 12 groups of two Smashers. Some Smashers were upset with who they were paired with, others were rather annoyed that they didn't get chosen.

The groups looked like this:

Wario & Ike

Captain Falcon & Luigi

King Dedede & Snake

Ness & Roy

Pikachu & Pit

Link & Wolf

Mario & Meta Knight

Samus & Ganondorf

Kirby & Mr. Game and Watch

Fox & Marth

Greninja & Olimar

Jigglypuff & Falco

Saki and Isaac just sat in their chairs looking rather bored. "Looks like we're not going on a mission." Saki sighed.

"Yeah..." Isaac said.

The two got up, ready to go to a bar, or do something else while waiting for further instructions, however Master Hand quickly flew up to them. "Saki, Isaac!" He shouted.

The two just looked at the gloved hand, fearing the worse, that they would now have to do some boring job of watching monitors, and observing those out on a mission.

"I have an important mission for you two."

"_Here it comes._" They both thought, breathing in, and bracing for the worst.

"You're going into that world to find someone named Nugai."

They both flinched. "What?!"

"I didn't say this out there, but..." He quickly snapped his fingers and the three of them reappeared in Master Hand's office. "You have to find this Nugai person."

"Nugai?" Isaac said confused.

"Yes." Master Hand said. "He was the one who wrote the code to temporarly separate our two worlds from depending on each other. However, while thousands of years have passed in here, I don't know how much time has passed out there. He's still alive and we met face to face, however he said I needed to send two Smashers to find his successor."

"Understood." Saki said. "Just find this successor guy."

"And if possible find out what happened to Nugai." Master Hand said. "He didn't tell me the whole story, but I suspect something bad has happened, and his movements have been restricted somehow..."

The two nodded.

"I have arranged it so that you can leave tonight, before any other Smasher." Master Hand said.

The two of them nodded. "Understood."

"Isaac, Saki. When you find the person, give him these. If he or she is meant to be our leader, he will know how to use them." Master Hand said, floating towards them was a small pack of cards.

They took the cards rather surprised.

"You're honestly giving us these?" Saki asked.

"Yes." Master Hand said.

"How can these even be used as a weapon?" Isaac asked inspecting them. "Are they just going to give the monsters enough paper cuts until it bleeds to death?"

"Please look at the cards." Master Hand said.

They just began to open the pack and then looked at the six cards inside. They just had some illustrations on them. The first, a question mark block. The second, a picture of Mario, the third, a picture of Toon Link. The fourth, a picture of Kirby. The fifth, a picture of Samus. The sixth, a picture of some pikmin. "So... we give him trading cards of us?"

Master Hand just floated there. "You will understand in the future." He said.

"Sure." Saki sighed, putting the cards into his pocket. "Okay... next?"

"Now, please go and say good bye to your families." Master Hand said. "I'm sure how long this mission will probably take. In fact, there is probably the chance you will die on it and never see them again."

The two just nodded and departed.

* * *

><p>Around the mansion everyone was getting ready and was rather excited. "I can't wait to go to the other world!" Ness shouted rather excited.<p>

"Lucky you." Popo said. "You get to go, and meanwhile we're here holding down the fort."

"You guys have got a very important job!" Ness said.

"It can be done by wireframes." Nana said annoyed. "Geeze, I signed up to be a Smasher for the adventure! Not to watch a monitor and make sure you were okay."

"It's still an important job." Ness laughed. "Well, at least I have a few days to prepare. I'll spend some time with you guys, so incase we don't see each other again for a long while you don't have to worry."

"This whole thing is too scary..." Lucas said. "Why do we have to fight..."

Ness glanced at the other psychic. At times others wondered why Lucas was a Smasher, he wasn't as brave as all of them, in fact, he was rather cowardly. There were moments where he showed power, but it wasn't anything that spectacular. If Ness had to describe the difference between his and Lucas' power, he'd use the word precise. Lucas was much more precise. He was slower and had more control, he lost the power that Ness had with getting the quick attacks out in succession, but he made those strikes count. Ness just wrapped his arm around his friend's neck. "Don't worry about it." Ness said. He knew his friend was a pacifist, and would like to avoid fights if possible. "If we're lucky, the first wave of Smashers will get everything settled quickly. No one else will even need to lift a finger."

"I hope so." Lucas said. "Just the way Master Hand spoke, it's going to be a long battle. And as long as we're on the job, we won't be able to see Villager and Rock. And that guy, he was so scary... if there are more people like him..."

"Just relax, we'll be fine." Ness said, patting Lucas on the back.

Lucas just meekly nodded. "I hope so..." He repeated. "But, Master Hand sent Greninja too."

Everyone just glanced at Lucas. "Yeah…" Popo muttered.

"Why would he do that?" Red wondered.

Greninja was Master Hand's personal bodyguard. He had found it as an abandoned Froakie one day and then raised it. He wasn't an official Smasher, he was just there, like Villager and Mega Man were there. Greninja was always at his side, and ready to do almost anything for the Hand. Moreover, he was able to hold his own against even the strongest of the Smashers.

"Let's not worry about this." Ness said. "Come on, let's just enjoy our time together before the mission."

* * *

><p>Saki had made it to his apartment in the city. Waiting for him at his house was his wife, Airan, and his five year old son, Isa. "Saki." Airan said wrapping her arms around her husband. "What happened?"<p>

"Something big has come up." Saki replied. "You know I can't really talk about work."

Airan just nodded understanding. "Unfortunately. You always seem like you have so much on your shoulders."

"Well, it's a big job, and I'll be away from home for a while." Saki said. "Master Hand told us to spend time with our loved ones for the rest of today."

"Us?" Airan questioned.

"Isaac is going with me on this mission." Saki said. "He's probably with Jenna and Matthew now."

Isa suddenly looked up at the mention of Matthew. Matthew was two years younger, but the two were next to inseparable. Anyone could easily mistake them as brothers. "Is that so." Airan laughed. "Well, I'm sure you two will constantly be looking out for each other."

"Yeah." Saki said. "Isa, let's go get some ice cream."

"Okay, Daddy." Isa said.

* * *

><p>Isaac currently was looking down at Matthew. He was having his afternoon nap. He had explained everything to Jenna, and was now debating about whether or not he should wake the kid. Eventually he just began to lightly shake the boy.<p>

"Daddy?" Matthew said.

"Hey there." Isaac smiled. He lifted up the boy and just carried him around the apartment. He sat down on the couch. "Your dad has to go and do a job and will likely not be home for a long time. I just wanted to spend time with you and your mother."

* * *

><p>As evening approached, Saki and Isaac had returned to the Smash Mansion. No one had batted an eye that they had been gone. Officially, they were Smashers, just apart of a group known as Assists, that were full of people who ranged in strength. There were those like Saki and Isaac who were just as strong as normal Smashers, or even surpassed them who were apart of this group. Like the main Smashers, they had full access to the amenities of the Smash Mansion and could come and go as they pleased.<p>

The two of them just paused to see watch the Kid Smashers who were running around outside, playing a game of soccer. "I wish I could be as carefree as them." Isaac laughed.

"Same…" Saki said. "But, maybe it's not that they're carefree, it's just that they are enjoying what little time left they have together."

"Fair enough." Isaac said.

A soccer ball went rushing right for Saki's head. However, he just blocked the attack with his hand. Lucas came running up towards them. "I'm sorry!" He apologized, getting the soccer ball back.

"Don't worry about it." Saki laughed just ruffling Lucas' hair.

Lucas just watched in shock as they began to walk away.

"Lucas!" Ness called out. Lucas just turned over to his friend in surprise. "Hey, were you going to bring the ball back to us?"

"Yeah, sorry." Lucas said. He glanced back at the Smash Mansion occasionally. His mind was elsewhere.

After their game, Lucas just rushed to Ness. "Um Ness, I have a question regarding psychic powers." Lucas said.

"Oh?" Ness said a bit confused. "Well, I can try and answer."

"Have you ever been able to look into someone's mind involuntarily when they touch you?" Lucas said.

"Well, there was a time where I could see into everyone's mind around me." Ness sighed. "It was like constant noise."

Lucas just nodded. "But if someone like say, Popo, were to brush against you, would you be able to see into their head if you weren't trying to?"

Ness thought about it for several seconds. "Sort of." Ness replied. "First, well, let's use the soccer game as an example. If Popo wanted to win, and we both clashed for the soccer ball, I'd probably see some manifestation of his will to win, if it was strong enough. Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Lucas replied.

Ness just smiled. "Okay, well let's go get dinner then."

"Okay, I'll catch up with you later." Lucas said. "It's my turn to water the garden."

Ness just smiled. "Well, in that case I can help you."

They just made their way over to a hose and some watering cans. Lucas began to fill up the watering cans, which Ness quickly ran off with to do the gardens on the other side of the mansion. Lucas just covered the hole of the hose with his thumb to let water spray across all of the flowers.

He often thought that he was like the flowers. Something that didn't belong here in the Smash Mansion, it was only there to make it look nicer than it actually was. It was just a den of monsters. In the den of monsters, why was someone like him here? Ness he could understand. Ness was brave, strong, cool, and confident. But him? Bowser, Ganondorf, and Wario scared him. He wasn't strong. He wasn't cool. He was afraid. Perhaps now more than ever. This mission, it was going to take a long time.

When Saki had ruffled his hair, he saw the mission that Master Hand had given them. He knew what was coming up ahead, how they were departing in the middle of the night when no one else would be awake…

"Lucas, can I get a refill?" Ness asked bringing back the watering cans.

"Sure." Lucas said.

"You looked like you were deep in thought." Ness said. "What were you thinking about?"

"Um, just how much I'm like these flowers?" Lucas said.

Ness just smiled. "Really?" he laughed.

"Yes, of course." Lucas said, a bit embarrassed.

Ness just glanced over the flowers. "I think you're like the flowers too. Kind and gentle." Ness glanced down at the watering cans and just took them. "Well, these should finish the other flowerbeds. I'll be back soon."

Ness dashed away. And Lucas just returned to watering the plants. "_Even Ness doesn't think I belong here…_" Lucas thought. "_That invitation was for Claus… wasn't it_?"

He remembered the day, like it was yesterday. A letter arrived at his house. His father just gave it to him, he never said a word. Lucas removed the wax seal and just read through the letter. Stating that he had been chosen to participate as a Smasher.

Even back then, Lucas thought the letter was for Claus his twin brother. After the death of his mother, Claus ran away, and they never saw him again. Lucas had wanted to go with Claus, but something stopped him. He was originally just going to the mansion to decline the offer, but something happened. They insisted that it was in fact for him, not his brother, and soon he found himself staying there as a Smasher.

"_Claus… he's just like Ness… Strong and brave and…_"

"And done!" Ness said, surprising Lucas. Lucas quickly turned to Ness, however he still had his thumb over the hose, causing Ness to be drenched in water.

"N- Ne- N- N- Ness?!" Lucas began to cry. "I'm sorry!"

Ness just began to laugh. "It's my fault. I wanted to see if I could scare you… And I guess I did. Stupid me."

They finished watering the flowers and Ness just ran up to their room to change into dry clothing. The other kid Smashers just laughed when Ness told them.

* * *

><p>It was now past midnight. Saki had just gone through his mental checklist and looked around his room.<p>

There was a light knocking at the door, followed by someone slowly opening it. "It's me." Isaac whispered.

"Okay." Saki just nodded.

"Are you ready to go?" Isaac asked.

"Yeah, I was just about to go get you." Saki said.

The two of them stepped out of the room, both of them were carrying bags. Which they quickly placed cloaking devices on, so if they encountered anyone, they wouldn't notice. At this time, most of the other Smashers were asleep. So while it was unlikely, they would rather be safe than sorry. They passed by the TV room of the Smash Mansion to see the TV on, and Captain Falcon having gone to sleep while watching it. They made their way to a hallway that looked like a dead end. They just hit a hidden button behind a hung painting and suddenly the wall began to open revealing an elevator behind it.

The two of them stepped inside. Saki hit another button to close the doors, and then hit another button to send the elevator down to their first destination.

For the first time they were in rather decent lighting, they just looked at themselves in the mirror on the elevator. They were both looking a bit nervous. No one else had been informed of their job, and they were supposed to go out in the middle of the night while everyone else was asleep. Not to mention, it felt like this was going to be a long mission. That they weren't going to be getting back to the Smash Mansion for a few weeks.

"Why do you think Master Hand doesn't want anyone else to know?" Saki wondered, breaking the silence.

"Who knows." Isaac replied. "He works in mysterious ways."

"At times, a bit too mysterious." Saki said annoyed. Isaac just shrugged his shoulders.

"Ah well, at least we actually get to do something."

Saki nodded in agreement. "I don't think I've ever been this nervous before a mission." Saki sighed. His hand was rubbing his stomach. "Not even during my old suicide missions while I was in The Saviors."

Isaac just nodded in agreement. "I don't think I've ever faced a monster that made me as nervous as this."

The elevator stopped, and opened to another room. This was the last place a Smasher would go before setting off on their mission. It was a small hallway connected to several small rooms. The first were some change rooms, the second was another briefing room. The two walked in to see Master Hand waiting for them. He floated there. "Please, come with me." Master Hand said. "I'll go over some more details of what you're supposed to do while there."

The two of them just nodded.

* * *

><p>Lucas was unable to fall asleep. He was currently just looking up at the ceiling. He glanced around the room to his roommates: Ness, Toon Link, and Popo. He just got up and went to a desk and pulled out a pen and paper.<p>

He just began to scribble down something and then folded it into an envelope.

He quickly got a bag out and stuffed some of his clothes in it and then ran out of the room.

* * *

><p>At the nearby village of Smashville, the young mayor, Villager was working diligently. His secretary, Isabelle an anthropomorphic dog, had walked into his office.<p>

"Good evening, Mayor." She said, wagging her tail. "You certainly are working late."

Villager just nodded. "Yeah. I couldn't get to sleep."

"Even though you were spending the whole day at the Smash Mansion, playing with your friends?" Isabelle said.

Villager just nodded, as he finished up some paperwork. "Okay, it seems like they want a new bridge." He just leaned back on his chair, looked up at the ceiling, and let out a huge yawn.

"Maybe you are actually more tired then you're letting on, and you should be going to sleep." Isabelle said.

"Yeah, you're right." Villager laughed. "Okay, I'm going home now."

He got up and exited out of the town hall, he glanced back to see Isabelle just cleaning up after him. He walked back to his house, which was on the edge of the town, occasionally pulling a few weeds out of the ground. "If I'm not here, does this whole place just fall apart?" He wondered.

He got to his house, and began to go through his pockets looking for his keys when suddenly he heard what sounded like a bunch of people walking nearby. Confused, he walked and hid behind some trees and bushes to look.

He just saw an army of strange creatures that were marching towards the Smash Mansion. Suddenly beside him was a giant eyeball like creature that was just staring at him. Afraid, Villager pulled out a slingshot and shot it in the eye. It let out a scream of pain and fell to the ground, Villager however quickly ran into his house.

* * *

><p>Saki and Isaac were just yawning as Master Hand continued to explain more and more boring things.<p>

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Saki sighed. "We get it. Recon duty, check if the planet has only human inhabitants, send back word so the Smashers will have to use holograms to disguise themselves…"

Master Hand just ignored him and after several more minutes he said. "Any questions?"

"No, we got it all." Isaac replied.

"All right, please change into these suits then." Master Hand said, snapping his fingers. In front of them appeared two briefcases. They opened them up and just made their way to a changing room. As Saki got in, he noticed that another briefcase was all ready open and empty. He just stared at it for a few seconds, before deciding that the last person who came in here to change during a mission was a slob.

The suits were there to protect them during travel. It was nothing new to them. The two got out of the change rooms in the suits.

"All right." Master Hand said. "I wish you much luck."

The two of them nodded. They went towards the second elevator, the one that would lead to the hangers, however just as Saki pressed a button, sirens began to go off.

* * *

><p>In the kitchen Kirby was up, trying to get a midnight snack. He was just looking through the fridge. Mario had also stepped into the kitchen. He looked at Kirby a bit surprised and reached over him for the bag of milk.<p>

He just poured it into a cup. "Looking for a midnight snack?" Mario said.

"Yeah." Kirby sighed. "Can't say I see anything too appealing through. Just some leftover pizza… I thought there was more food in here at dinnertime. It's never been this empty before."

The fridge was mostly empty as the next day was the day that they would go out and get groceries. But Mario had to agree, this was the most barren he had ever seen the fridge, even the bottles of condiments, that he swore were there several hours earlier, were gone.

Kirby eventually grabbed the plate of left over pizza and went over to the microwave. However, there was suddenly a large explosion, followed by the whole mansion shaking, causing Kirby to drop the plate. It shattered on the ground, and then some alarms began to go off.

"What's going on?!" Kirby shouted.

"We're under attack!?" Mario said confused.

There was another explosion, and the mansion shook once again. When the two regained their balance, they quickly rushed to a window to look outside to see who was attacking them.

* * *

><p>Even deep underground, Saki and Isaac were feeling the mansion shake. They could hear the explosions through the mansions thick walls and the ground. The two of them looked more annoyed than anything, as the safety systems shut down the elevator. Master Hand just teleported down to the hanger, while the two of them were forced to take the stairs.<p>

"Who would attack us now?!" Isaac asked jumping down several stairs.

"I don't know, but they sure are gutsy." Saki replied.

"Why would they attack us?" Isaac asked annoyed.

"Part of me wants to say, 'just because' and that they are idiots." Saki replied. "Unfortunately, another part of me is saying they're attacking because they don't want us to go out to the other world."

"But how would they know that?" Isaac asked. "We only found out about it this afternoon."

"A spy?" Saki suggested.

"It's only you and me who knew about this mission." Isaac replied.

"Well, what if they're trying to stop everyone else from leaving." Saki suggested. "Do enough damage and make sure that we don't go to the other world because we're recovering, and have to cancel our plans to rebuild a hanger, or something."

"That I'm willing to believe." Isaac said. "Still, from what Master Hand was saying, I thought that the people who wanted the worlds to fuse were on the other side..."

They reached a door that would lead to the hanger, the two opened it up, and waiting for them was Master Hand. "You'll be going in this ship." He said, pointing at a rather small one.

The ship was still properly equipped with three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen. Master Hand snapped his fingers, and two travel bags appeared. "I've got several more rations in here for you guys" He said. They just floated up and flew towards Saki and Isaac. They effortlessly caught them. "Sorry that you didn't have more preparation time."

"That's fine." Saki said.

"Take this communicator. It will stay in touch with the mansion letting us know everything about your location and status. Be sure to send updates constantly too." Master Hand said tossing the phone like device onto Saki's bag.

"Still, our enemies are pretty bold." Isaac said.

"Indeed. To attack us like this. Did they know what we were going to do? Or did they just do this in the hopes to destroy us before we got involved?" Master Hand said. "Listen, I'm sorry for sending you out like this. But it has to be done."

"We understand." Saki said.

"You two are still Smashers." Master Hand said. "And I would like to wish you the best of luck on this mission."

"Thank-" However, before the words were even able to get out of Isaac's mouths, the alarms blared once more, and a prerecorded message came over all of the speakers.

"Emergency, enemies have breached the mansion. They are now inside the mansion."

"We don't have anymore time. Go!" Master Hand shouted.

The two of them dashed for the ship. They got in and began to activate it. It soon became extremely clear that whoever their attackers were, they were coming down into the hanger. Several more announcements came on, each time just saying that they had breached a certain level of security, and where they were.

"Enemies are in level B-5." One recording said.

Saki began to frantically turn on the ship. Isaac was also doing his best to help. The doors to the hanger opened, and to the outside world.

"To warp to the other world, you have to reach a speed of 88 miles per hour." Master Hand's voice came over a communication radio.

"Seriously?" Saki said rather annoyed.

"Whatever." Isaac said. "Let's just get out of here now!"

Soon the ship was taking off. Thankfully reaching 88 miles per hour wouldn't be all that hard. They exited the hanger and just began to fly out. However they soon learned that their enemies were waiting. The ship began to shake from a barrage of lasers and explosives being shot at them. They tried to look out of the windows of the ship to see their attackers, but it was far too dark to make out anything.

"Warping in… 3… 2…"

However as soon as they reached the 88 miles per hour required for warping, a missile hit the ship, and exploded.

They warped, but parts of the ship were falling apart, and then, they crashed.

It took them several seconds to get their bearings. They looked around, and began to run several preliminary scans.

"Did we get to the right place?" Isaac asked.

Saki began to type at a computer. "I think so," he said. "Yeah, this planet is definitely inhabitable. It's matching up with the information that Master Hand had loaded in the systems. I'm pretty sure this is the place we're supposed to be."

Isaac just nodded. "And what is the status on the ship?"

"Its sustained heavy damage." Saki said. "I don't know if it can warp any more though, especially without falling apart. Cloaking seems to be working, the scanners are too. Just seems like most of the excess armor is gone."

"Well, I guess we should be thankful that it was reinforced." Isaac said.

Saki just nodded. "Running a quick diagnostic."

* * *

><p>At the Smash Mansion the attack had ended just as fast as it began. The Smashers were just confused, tired, and now frustrated.<p>

"Why did they run away!" Ganondorf shouted outraged. He punched the wall, leaving a rather noticeable dent. "Bunch of cowards!"

Where they had entered they had left part of the mansion in ruins. They tried to avoid confrontation with the Smashers who were there. The Smashers soon found that they had made their way deeper into the Smash Mansion, where the hidden chambers and their armories waited. But, soon found that their various defensive measures were able to repel most of them.

"Looks like the phantoms did their job on this floor." Zelda said.

"And the Cruel Wireframes did it on B5."

"The Cruel Alloys were fine on floor B7"

"Any visuals on who our enemies were?" Fox asked.

"None." Master Hand replied. "I've gone through the video footage with Snake. That was the first thing that they cut."

The Smashers just made their way back up to what remained of the living room. All ready the wireframes were working on rebuilding any spot where the mansion was damaged.

"Mario, Kirby, you two were awake in the kitchen right?" Master Hand asked. "Did you see who our opponents were?"

"No." Mario sighed. "We took cover, and then they blinded us with something."

"Just what was their goal?" Captain Falcon said annoyed.

Master Hand however didn't answer. He figured it was to stop Saki and Isaac from going to the other world. He didn't want to break the news to anyone just yet. "Return to bed. We'll worry about this in the morning, when our judgment isn't clouded."

The Smashers obliged.

* * *

><p>In the morning, Ness woke up. When he had got back to his room, he just collapsed on the bed and fell asleep; he didn't pay attention to who else was in the room, or anything else. He just assumed that the others would do the same. He glanced over. Lucas' bed was rather neat. He always made it before he went out. Popo was still sleeping in his lower bunk.<p>

Ness just jumped off of his top bunk and looked around. Right now Toon Link wasn't in his bed. What caught his eye though was an envelope on the desk. Ness was a bit curious, was one of his roommates writing a letter home? But he saw that it wasn't addressed to anyone and was still open.

Curiosity got the better of him. He just opened it up and noticed it was Lucas' neat handwriting. He then began to read it.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Ness,<em>

_By the time you read this, I'll be gone. I don't feel like I'm cut out to be in the Smashers. I'm not amazing like you. My PSI isn't that good either. I can't use it in quick succession. It's also not as strong as yours._

_I'm afraid too. The battles ahead seem far too big and out of my league. I'd only drag the Smashers down. _

_And above all else, I'm afraid. I'm terrified._

_I never told you, or anyone else, but I lost my mother. I saw her die right in front of my eyes. I don't want to see or feel that pain again. I'm nothing but a coward. When I joined the Smashers, I came here to escape that pain. But I grew attached to you all. I began to see Samus, Peach, and Zelda as big sisters and mother figures. You, and the rest of the kid Smashers I thought of as brothers. I thought of everyone as one big family. And that was a mistake._

_I didn't just lose my mother; I also lost my real brother too. What I was doing was just replacing them with you to try and hide my pain._

_Do you know what it's like when someone you love dies? Probably not. It feels like a part of you has been torn out. You always look where they used to be, hoping that they'd still be there. But they're not, and they will never be again. You then desperately hold onto your memories, hoping you can remember what they sounded like, their smell. You try to remember the taste of their cooking… but it slowly fades, even to the point of where if you're not sure if pictures are real or not. "Did they look like that? They wore that outfit?" and then you even forget the sound of their voice..._

_When I bumped into Saki, I saw a little bit of what lies ahead. Master Hand didn't explain everything to us. It's going to be a long hard battle, and he fears that some of us won't make it out alive. I just don't want to lose anyone else in my life. So… I'm running away._

_I'm a horrible person, aren't I? You must hate me. That's fine. I deserve it._

_I'm sorry._

_Goodbye forever,_

_Lucas_

* * *

><p>Ness just cringed and crumpled up the letter, before burning it to ash.<p>

"Damn it, Luke…" He muttered. "You idiot. None of that is true…" Ness was nervous. He didn't know when or where Lucas had gone, especially when the attack occurred. Was he killed by the people who attacked? Was he captured? Did he get lost in the confusion? Ness didn't know what to do. It would only be a matter of time before everyone else noticed that Lucas was gone. He really should report it to Master Hand right away. But Lucas was still his friend, and he was afraid that if Lucas was caught he would be punished.

"Hey, you coming for breakfast?" Toon Link shouted.

Ness just glanced back at the door. "Yeah, sorry." Ness said. He just closed his eyes and believed, that for right now this was something that Lucas had to do himself, and that he would eventually find his way back into the Smashers.

He rushed down to the kitchen.

* * *

><p>The day was going by without any other attacks. Now that it was light out, the Smashers were assessing the damage better. Master Hand and Princess Zelda had made their way out to the gardens.<p>

"Strange." He said.

"What is?" Princess Zelda asked.

"Despite all of the damage to the mansion, most of the garden is still intact." Master Hand said. "These flowers don't look all that strong from up here above ground, but beneath the soil their roots have grabbed a firm grip. You are aware of the difference between a flower and a weed, right Princess Zelda?"

"Yes?" Zelda said confused.

"Depending on your point of view, a flower can be either. A strictly speaking, a weed is something that you don't want in your garden." Master Hand said. "Still, you have to respect a weed's tenacity at times. When you think you got rid of it, it comes back. It seems one of our flowers has thought of itself as a weed. But just as the weed, the flower spreads it seeds and blooms."

"Are we having the same conversation?" Princess Zelda wondered.

"I hope our little light flower can find the answer it's looking for." Master Hand said. He floated over to a small patch of sunflowers. "Ironic isn't it? Sunflowers are considered to be the happiest of flowers."

"We really aren't having the same conversation." Princess Zelda sighed.

"Yet, the sunflower here in the Smash Mansion is the saddest. Lucas ran away last night." Master Hand said.

"What? Was he working with the people who attacked?" Princess Zelda said shocked.

"No." Master Hand replied. "It was just an unfortunate coincidence."

"We should look for him then." Princess Zelda suggested.

"No." Master Hand replied. "We wouldn't be able to find him, and we can't divert any more energy from our current plans."

Princess Zelda just stood there. "Understood." She said.

"We just have to pray for the best." Master Hand said.

A stick snapped behind them, and the two of them turned to see Villager emerging from the forest, with his bug net slung across his shoulder. He was looking at them in shock. "Is that true?! Lucas ran away?" Villager managed to say.

"Yes." Master Hand said floating towards Villager. "I'm sorry you had to hear that. I'm sorry if you came here to play with them today, but I'm going to have to send you away."

"I didn't come here to do that." Villager said. "Last night, I saw some creatures going towards the mansion from Smashville, one attacked me, and I hit it back in self defense with a stone in my slingshot, and well killed it. But no one came to take the body away… so… I brought it here."

He opened the bug net a bit to reveal the now dead spherical pink creature.

"Princess Zelda, go get Dr. Mario!" Master Hand ordered. "Villager, come inside. You're going to have to tell us everything you saw about these creatures."

Villager just nodded.

Elsewhere, another story begins…

To be continued…

* * *

><p><em>"Something's gone wrong in the happy-go-lucky world of Nintendo!"<em>

_~ Super Smash Brothers, Nintendo 64, North American Commercial_

* * *

><p><strong>And that's the end of the first chapter... *Exhales* <strong>

**And so it begins. Looking at the word count 11,000+ words. I'm not going to over inflate the all ready large word count with long author notes. So just the quick and mandatory ones:**

**No real action yet. This was just to establish things on the Smashers side. My original draft had this and what will be Chapter 2 and this combined, all as one long intro. But with how long it was getting, I figured we'd meet the OC next chapter. Originally it was also mostly all the OC's but then I felt it kind of focused way too much on him, so I just kept on adding in more and more Smasher stuff.**

**For those doing the math, and dreading it, there isn't going to be 14 main OC's. (Nugai, his successor, 12 others) Nugai is taking a backseat role. Not all 12 will survive the elmination game.  
><strong>

**My main idea is if the worlds/dimensions are crossing over, how would people react to monsters appearing and stuff. How would humanity fight monsters?**

**The Smash 4 Smashers won't be fully here yet. They'll be in the story eventually as Smashers… but for right now Villager's, Greninja's and MegaMan's appearances in this chapter are what you're getting.**

**Towards the end, I was actually debating about having the Villager kidnapped by the army.  
><strong>

**References:**

**"What was his name?" "Lane." Lane is actually one of the default names in EarthBound. The last one before it switches back to Ness. The intent there was that Nugai was crying about the Ness that he befriended in Trapped in the Brawl, and this Ness being a different Ness.  
><strong>


	2. The calm before the storm

**And here's chapter 2! And the arrival of an OC! Or two or three… **

**With Saki and Isaac taking center stage right now, I wanted the Assist Trophies and Pokeball pokemon taking a big role… More at the notes at the bottom…**

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: The calm before the storm<p>

It all began one Sunday night. The sky was clear. You could see the stars shining up above, and the lights from the town below did nothing to obscure the view. Yet, for some reason, it was strange. There was something mystical about it.

Shooting stars began to fall. Sitting out on a deck was someone watching them. "How nice!" He said. He was just hoping to get some fresh air to clear his mind before he went back to studying for a test that he had the next day. He just inhaled, and stretched his body and watched as the shooting stars continued to shoot across the sky.

As soon as it was over though, he went back inside. Back into the light. He had short brown hair, and an average build. He wasn't anything special. He wasn't gifted with an extreme athleticism, or good looks. He was just someone who was completely average. His name was Alex. He quickly turned around to double check if he had locked the back door. As he walked up the stairs and into the room he paused. On a dresser, there were two charging 3DS's. On one, more specifically his, an aqua blue colored 3DS with the Mark of Mastery Kingdom Hearts case, there was a pulsing blue light.

"A SpotPass?" he said confused. He looked at the other 3DS, a midnight purple with no special case, that belonged to his brother, strangely it was also charging however there was no notification. He double-checked to make sure the wireless light was still on his brother's. It was.

He just opened his 3DS and saw the notification for a system update. He went through the motions and activated the update.

The progress bar appeared and much to his surprise, it was taking a while. Normally his updates were actually rather fast, their internet was practically lightening fast in at least downloading stuff, uploading on the other hand… yeah it was complete garbage.

"What ever..." he muttered. Just assuming that his brother was online looking at videos on youtube, or downloading some torrents.

He returned to his desk and began to read through his notes once again. After he was confident in how much he had studied, he glanced back at the 3DS that he had left open on the dresser. The download hadn't completed yet.

Alex glanced up at the router. It was blinking like crazy. He just thought for several seconds, wondering if it was a large update. Then again, he was positive that he would of heard about it on the Internet earlier.

He just sighed. "Ah well, maybe in the morning." He muttered, walking over and lightly shutting the 3DS. He did one quick round of the house, making sure all windows and doors were locked before finally going to bed.

* * *

><p>A lone person sat in a dark room, looking at a wall of monitors. His fingers tapped the arm of his chair, trying to make a rhythm.<p>

"It's been just a little bit over 6 years, and time grows short." He said. "Nugai… Is everything ready?" He said to no one.

He closed his eyes. Across the screens, they now began to display a starry sky, followed by shooting stars beginning to rain down.

"Ready or not, it begins..." He said.

* * *

><p>Lucas had snuck aboard the ship that Saki and Isaac had taken to travel to the other world. For the longest time, before he felt the engines starting, he was afraid that Master Hand would find him, and take him out of the ship from his hiding place of one of the cupboards in the ship's kitchen. But, that never happened, and soon they were on their way out.<p>

But as the ship was escaping, he felt every attack hit it. He bounced around in the cupboard. The pots and pans that he was sharing it with began to hit and pile on top of him. Other things began to rattle, and he hit his head off of the cupboard's ceiling.

He did his best to suppress a cry, afraid that Saki or Isaac would discover him.

Soon, it stopped, and it was mostly clear sailing until the crash landing. Using his psychic abilities to brace himself, he didn't take the crash landing as badly as someone who wasn't strapped in normally would.

Yet, his whole world was spinning. He heard Saki and Isaac talking. Lucas was finding it hard to actually concentrate on them. He made something out about them moving the ship away from where they crashed, and activating the cloaking device on the ship and starting there search tomorrow morning.

Lucas just nodded. That sounded like a good idea... getting some sleep. He stayed conscious long enough to see them going into two separate bedrooms and closing the doors. He made his way to the third. The third was much smaller than the other two; it consisted of two single beds, and a washer and drier for some clothes. Lucas figured they wouldn't be checking this room tomorrow morning. And if they did... he just simply locked the door.

He had thrown his bag of food and clothing into the closet previously. Lucas just breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he chose the correct bedroom that Saki and Isaac didn't choose. Then again, it probably made a lot more sense. Two individual queen sized beds, with the privacy of your own room, verses both of them being cramped in a single room, with only single beds.

He smiled at himself at a job well done. They never suspected a thing, and he had escaped the Smash mansion. He figured it would at least be a few hours before Ness, Toon Link, Red, or Popo woke up. They would find his note, and then what? He froze for a few seconds and glanced around the room. "No…" He said to himself. "You made your choice. You can't continue with these fights…" He just told himself.

Lucas just collapsed on the bed and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Alex woke up at 3 in the morning. He could have sworn off in the distance he heard a crash, but it could have just been his dreams. He just glanced at the clock. After a few minutes of tossing and turning he went to the washroom. After he was done, he returned to his room but first went over to the 3DS. It had finally downloaded its update.<p>

He looked at the menu. It was still completely the same. For an update that took that long he was expecting some drastic changes.

He then noted that there was a new swapnote. His body just froze in shock. "But that was discontinued..." He muttered. He still kept the service on his 3DS to StreetPass with his friends, and the occasional jab of nostalgia he would have when looking through it.

He went in and looked at the note. "You have been one of those chosen. Wait for further instructions." That was all it said. He was just confused. And then he froze and looked at the writing again.

It was sloppy, barely legible. It reminded him way too much of his own writing. If he had to bet money though, it looked a lot like his cousin's writing. Still, even if it was his cousin's writing, his cousin wouldn't have been able to send him a message from where he was currently.

Soon he went back to sleep.

* * *

><p>It was just supposed to be another boring, uneventful day in his life. When he woke up, he did his morning routine exactly the same as he did any other day. Grumbled, looking at the clock. Turned it off. Struggled to get his feet out from beneath the dog that was sleeping at the end of the bed, curled up in a ball, somehow finding his legs being the perfect pillow, and had migrated there sometime between the time he had woken up during the middle of the night and now. He forced himself up to get to the washroom first. Took a leak, showered, dried off, changed into the clothes he would be wearing for school, put on deodorant, brushed his teeth, and then walked out of the washroom to see the next person waiting at the door to get in.<p>

He then made his way downstairs, and poured himself some cereal for breakfast, and ate. He would glance at his cell phone, that he had unplugged from the wall, and see if he had any new text messages. And then the person who went into the washroom after him would walk down the stairs and also eat breakfast.

"Are you ready for another day of school Alex?" he would ask.

Alex would just glare back. "Not really." He sighed. "Besides, why are you so cheery? You're stuck in the same boat."

"True. But I've got a good feeling about today!"

Alex just froze, the spoon only a few inches from his mouth. He glanced up at the person. "Good feeling?" Alex said confused. "You never have a good feeling."

"Well, I just woke up today, and I felt that everything was going to fall into place!" He laughed grabbing an apple that was in a fruit tray. "I don't think I've ever slept better!"

Alex just cringed. He returned back to eating his cereal. "You being positive and happy for once is scaring me Nick."

The other person just laughed.

"Well, I'm just glad that school is almost over. Just three more months of this crap, and then it will be summer holidays." Alex said.

"We can go to the cottage, and just relax there the whole summer," Nick said, as he began to peel some more fruits. "Maybe pick up some girls."

Alex laughed. "We have to work too."

"Maybe, we will see mom for a few days too." Nick said.

Alex just nodded his head. "Well, we still have three months of school to worry about." Alex replied. "Tests and the future."

"You really don't sound like how a kid your age would act." the other person said.

"Your one to talk." Alex sighed. "I need to worry about my future, unlike you, Nick."

"I worry about the future all the time." Nick replied.

"Yeah right." Alex muttered.

The other person just sat down and ate the fruit that he had cut up. When they were done, they put the dishes in the dishwasher, turned it on, and soon exited the house walking down towards the bus stop. The two were brothers. Alex and Nick. They mostly lived by themselves. Their mother was a famous author and was currently on some tour hyping up her next book that would be released in the summer. Their father they saw occasionally, but they normally didn't bring him up. He had been having an affair, and had another kid with the woman, and they eventually found out, and well, a divorce naturally occurred.

Nick had rather long messy black hair with spots of red that went down past his shoulders, and then bundled together as a ponytail, the length of his hair never escaped a comment, but he mostly just brushed it off. Alex however knew that they probably wouldn't be teasing him if they actually know him. When asked about his brother's hair he would just reply that he was apparently too lazy to go to the barber. Nick also had a rather skinny build, and was smaller only being about 5' 03", compared to Alex's 5'10". Nick's height was a rather touchy subject. He just always said that he hadn't gotten his final growth spurt yet. They waited for the bus.

Alex was constantly pacing, a nervous habit that he had, probably brought on by him having a test today. Nick on the other hand just stood perfectly still. "You've got the test in the bag, don't worry about it." He reassured his brother.

"Yeah, in the bag." Alex muttered.

"And besides, you could always cheat."

Alex just shot Nick a glare. Nick let off a laugh followed by a heavy sigh.

The bus came, and the two of them boarded it. Most of the ride was spent in silence. They transferred buses, and eventually got to their school. They split up for their classes, and mingled with their own friends. During lunch the two of them briefly met up. Both of them pulling out their 3DS' and checking if they had StreetPassed anyone. It was just the usual suspects in the school.

Alex was looking through his StreetPasses. Getting more and more annoyed that no one had any new puzzle pieces. He was pretty much done going through all of the rooms in Find Mii II. It would probably take him another week if he decided not to use the 290 coins that he had to clear it that night.

"What's the plan for tonight?" Nick asked.

"No idea." Alex sighed. "Get home, eat. That's about it. You?"

"Nothing." Nick sighed. "I was thinking about stopping at a store on the way home, but what I was going to pick up can wait."

Alex just nodded.

"How did the test go?"

Alex just cringed.

"That well?" Nick said.

"I ran out of time, and couldn't finish the last two questions." Alex replied.

"So, you'll be fine." Nick said.

"Probably." Alex laughed. "Still, I wish I had finished. Ah well… Hey, so I've been thinking."

"About what?"

"Smash 4." Alex laughed. Nick just rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, you're excited too."

Nick just grumbled something underneath his breath.

"Just that if they announce the release date, and it's not a world wide release, I've been thinking about just importing a 3DS from Japan…" Alex replied.

Nick was just silent. "That's all?" He asked, actually a little frustrated.

"Well… There are a few other things I guess…" Alex laughed. "Mostly what characters I want in."

"They can wait."

"Come on, aren't you excited to see if you're in it." Alex teased.

Nick just looked around nervously. "I'm sure Miis will be in it. Now, I'll talk to you later at home." He said seriously.

He got up and ran off, probably getting a bunch of glares from the various teachers who were on duty. He was far to fast for them to actually say anything. Alex just sighed, and began to dissect his lunch, just the poutine that was from the cafeteria. Normally he would of packed his lunch last night but he was so busy studying for the test that he just gave up and decided to burn some money buying the overpriced crap… it wasn't even good poutine either, he felt like he was going to have a stomach ache for the next few hours because of it.

As he was finishing up, he then heard over some students talking behind him.

"Did you see the meteor shower last night?"

"Yeah, I heard one fell nearby outside of he city!"

"_Interesting."_ Alex thought. He just finished up his food. _"Maybe I'll go looking for it, I need some exercise to work off this garbage."_

* * *

><p>Nick was running through the hallways, several of the on duty teachers shouted out for him to stop, but he just ignored them. However he was suddenly grabbed by a group of people. "Hey, shrimp." One said. "You're coming with us."<p>

Nick just began to raise his hand, ready to do something, but suddenly a devilish smile crossed his face. _"I haven't had fun in a while…"_ he thought.

They just dragged Nick out of the school and into a forest that was right beside it. "All right, you're going to give us your money." One said.

Nick just sighed. "Really?" He said bored.

"Yeah!" One said. "Now you're outnumbered, 6 to 1."

"A pokemon battle then." Nick said. Everyone just looked at him a bit confused by his attitude. "It's been so long since I had a good fight. School has been so boring… I've been wanting a time to sharpen my claws!" he stretched out his fingers and they began to crack.

"Hey. Just give us your money, and we'll let you go." Another said.

"You're weak." Nick laughed. "I can't wait to show you just how weak you actually are! You'll be tasting dirt soon enough…"

"Are you even listening, or do you need some motivation?"

"My claws haven't gone through flesh in so long… I wonder how much you'll scream in fear…" Nick said licking his lips.

"Hey you dumbass!" One shouted swinging a branch right for Nick's head, however he jumped up into the air to avoid it.

"You guys are the dumbasses." He laughed. "You wasted your first three turns, while I used Nasty Plot three times… Now let's have some fun…" Nick began to glow with a dark aura, suddenly a pitch black wave of energy came from him and hit all of his attackers. They were all knocked back. He just looked around.

"What just happened?" One said getting up off of the ground.

"Why can't I see clearly?" Another shouted.

"Things have gone dark."

The six of them were beginning to regain their composure. They rushed for Nick. He just began to dodge their various attacks, letting them hit each other. "Master never let's me have any fun, so I hope you forgive me for trashing you!" he said, slashing one of the attackers with his hand, in the air there was what appeared to be a purple after wave. He scratched a few of them, and drew some blood.

The fight went on, but one by one they all fell. Nick just had a twisted smile across his face. He pulled up one by the hair and just glared at him. The person was terrified and began to scream.

"Don't attack me again." Nick said, as he threw him down to the ground. "Next time, I won't hold back." He just began to walk away.

* * *

><p>In the ship, Lucas had woken up. He looked around, confused, and a bit disoriented. Then he remembered. "That's right." He muttered. "I ran away from the Smashers..."<p>

He got up, and looked around the ship. Saki and Isaac had left it, and was now somewhere else probably doing recon duty. Lucas just grabbed his bag and got out of the ship. He looked around. He was in a forest, and there was a river nearby. The place looked rather peaceful to him. He just began to make his way through the forest, after about 10 minutes of walking he stopped. He found a small cave on what looked to be a rocky cliff side. He grabbed a nearby stick and lit it on fire, and then went inside the cave. It only went back about 10 meters, and it didn't appear to be a wild animal's den. So Lucas just sat down. For the time being this would be his secret base. He just began to rummage through his bag. He had gotten enough rations from the Smash Mansion to last two weeks.

"I'll figure everything out by then…" He said to himself.

* * *

><p>For Alex, the rest of the school day was boring and uneventful. And then, after an eternity, the end of the day came. They made their way home on the normal bus that they took. They had to stop at a mall, where there was a bus terminal and they would transfer to the next bus to make their way home. At least that's what would have happened, but as they stood at the bus terminal. They looked at the streets and noticed that no vehicles were moving.<p>

"What's going on?" Nick asked.

Alex just looked closer at the streets. "The street lights have no power."

The two walked towards the street to investigate further. Cars were honking. People were swearing, telling others to learn how to drive, and many other unpleasant things. Traffic was backed up for quite a while. "Looks like we might as well just walk home." Alex sighed. "It would probably be faster."

"Agreed." Nick said.

They began walking. Occasionally some people in their cars would stop them and ask what was going on. "The lights are out." Alex replied.

"That's it?" The person in the car would ask confused. "Why would that stop traffic?"

"No idea." Alex shrugged.

They walked away. Alex muttered something about him believing that everyone driving on the road were idiots incapable of driving under normal conditions, and it didn't surprise him in the least that people didn't know if the traffic lights were out you treat it like a four way stop.

On the way back to their house they had to cross some train tracks. Alex just looked forwards, but Nick on the other hand had glanced to the side, and stopped. "Alex, stop." Nick said.

Alex listened to his brother and turned to see what Nick was facing. The train tracks were uprooted and bent. It looked as though something ripped through them. "It wasn't like this, this morning, right?" Alex asked.

"I don't think so." Nick replied.

There were some others, along with some authorities. They tried to approach however someone their age stopped them. "I wouldn't recommend going any closer." he said.

The person had messy black hair and a rather vacant expression on his face. The two of them just looked at him rather confused.

"Why not?" Alex wondered.

"It's dangerous, at least that's what they're saying. I think it would be especially dangerous for you two."

"What caused it?"

"An earthquake, or at least that's what they're saying. But I think you two know the real reason."

Alex looked at Nick rather confused. "We just got here." Nick replied.

"He's probably just high." Alex sighed. "Let's go home."

They began to walk away. The person however decided to speak again. "Something else is crossing over." He said. The two of them both froze and glanced back. "It tried here but failed for some reason... And is now somewhere else trying to force its way through... But it's only the beginning."

The two of them just began to run away.

"What a weird person." Alex sighed.

"Indeed." Nick replied.

"There is something about him that I don't like." Alex said. "He let off this strange aura."

Nick just shrugged. "You probably shouldn't be talking about auras right now. What if they are still following us?"

Alex glanced back; however he saw no one there. "You're right, if they were, they might ask questions."

"And beyond that… he knew…" Nick said.

Alex just nodded in agreement. "I got that feeling too." He said. "But, I don't think we should worry about that. Let's just get home."

"In that case, race you home." Nick suggested.

Alex nodded. And the two began to run as fast as they could. In the end, Nick had managed to run further than Alex and decided to stop to allow Alex time to catch up. "You're far too slow." Nick laughed.

"Sorry that I can't keep up with you." Alex replied, gasping for air. "You win this round."

"Maybe one day you'll be able to catch me." Nick laughed. He was strangely not out of breath.

They walked the rest of the way back to their house. Eventually, they got back home. Immediately, Alex turned on the TV, and began to check to see what happened on the Internet. On the local news sites, he saw it was reported as an earthquake.

Alex pulled out his 3DS and noticed that the StreetPass light was flashing. He looked at it confused for a moment and opened it up. Going to the Mii plaza and seeing that the Mii that was waiting for him at the gate was identical to the weird person.

His greeting wasn't even something like "Hello." Instead it was "Let's Survive."

Alex was just rather confused. But at least he found out that the person's name, or at least the name he gave the Mii was Tei. "What a weird person." Alex sighed.

He got up off of the couch and just grabbed his coat. "Where are you going?" Nick asked.

"Out for a walk." Alex said.

Nick just glanced at his brother. "Where to?"

"A meteor apparently landed near here from the meteor shower last night. I want to see if I can find it." Alex said. "That and I need some fresh air, and I want some more exercise to work off that stupid poutine..."

Nick just nodded. "All right, I'll stay here then..."

* * *

><p>Saki and Isaac had finished their preliminary scan of the area where they had landed. They had moved the ship into the forest after they crashed, and looking out they were able to see that their entrance had gotten the attention of the locals.<p>

"Well, the good news is we've got all the recon data for them when they come over." Isaac sighed. "The bad news is our communications are completely gone, and we can't contact them. Everything else seems to be working though as far as I can tell."

Saki just cringed. "Great, I hope they know that we're still alive."

"I hope they're still alive." Isaac said. "The mansion was under attack as we were escaping after all."

Saki just nodded. He went over and poured a cup of coffee.

"I guess we need to go onto phase two of the plan." Isaac said. "Finding this successor to Nugai, and then find out what happened to Nugai."

Saki just let out a yawn. "Really do we have to?" He said.

"It's our mission." Isaac replied.

"Our mission can wait until tomorrow." Saki said. "I think I'm suffering from jet lag."

"Yeah right." Isaac muttered.

"Besides, I kind of want to figure out who that stowaway was." Saki said.

"Stowaway?" Isaac questioned.

"Someone else came with us to this world. They're no longer on the ship though." Saki said. "But some of their scent still lingers here. I'm going to try and find him."

Isaac just nodded. "I'll come with you then."

* * *

><p>Alex was walking down a paved path in the forest. He would try to do this daily. It originally just started as an easy way to get his step count up and get his ten play coins daily, if he forgot to take his 3DS to school. But he liked it so much that he made it a part of his daily schedule, it was a rather easy way to actually just unwind and get his mind off the stress that school brings and other things.<p>

He would normally just follow the paved route until it got back to the road, and then he'd walk back to his house, but he decided to do something different today. He looked at the trees along the path and found a small opening. He just walked into the forest.

For the first time in a long time he was about to do a deviation on his usual route, a deviation that would have disastrous consequences.

There was a dirt path, which went on for a few meters, and then a single chain acted as a barrier. On it was a worn down sign that said it was dangerous up ahead. He ignored it, and stepped over the chain.

The hill suddenly became much steeper, and he made his way down to a small clearing. There was a ring of rocks that made a makeshift fire pit. He knew this area was used for some small parties during the weekends and summer. He just walked past it and down to the river.

At least four years ago he would come here every day, but for some reason, one day he just stopped coming. He figured about 1000 meters in another direction housing development had begun, and he feared that it would only be a matter of time before they made their way up to this spot. But for the most part it was untouched.

He just walked along the river for a few minutes until he found some stones making a pathway across. He stepped across them to some empty fields.

He wasn't quite sure what the fields were. Untreated farmland, privet property, or yet another area that the city had yet to make into housing developments? It didn't take long to find where a meteor had landed. It was a giant crater. But there was nothing there, just a bunch of displaced ground.

He went down to the center of the crater, and looked around. Everything about the place was letting off a strange aura. There was also the feeling that something was constantly watching him.

Alex just looked around. He placed his hand on the ground and was about to close his eyes.

"There's someone here!" A voice said.

He looked back behind him, to see several people they were young adults. They quickly began to go down towards Alex. "What are you doing here?" One asked.

"I heard that a meteor landed near here last night and I went to find it." Alex said.

"It's just some kid exploring." He shouted back.

"I'm 17." Alex muttered.

"Listen, this place is dangerous, you probably shouldn't be here." The guy said.

"Then why are you here?" Alex wondered.

"We've got our reasons, not to mention, we've got a few studies to perform." The guy said. "Listen, you might not believe us, but we think this crater was made from aliens crashing on our planet."

Alex just rolled his eyes. "Okay then, I'm leaving." He said. He began to get up. There were more people. There were also several trailers. He wondered how he had not seen them earlier, but he just figured it was because his eyes were focused only on the crater. He soon saw someone wearing a white lab coat.

"Excuse me." He said. "Can you just come over here for a few minutes."

Alex just looked a bit confused and went to the person. "My name is Dr. Sakai." He said. "And since you were one of the people here that we were unable to turn away before getting closer. Our equipment has been displaying some odd readings. I'd just like to run a few quick tests to make sure that you didn't get any lethal levels of radiation or anything."

"What?" Alex said surprised.

"Don't worry about it." Dr. Sakai said. "Just please come here."

They walked into a trailer and Alex sat down on a chair. There were several dishes pointed at him. "Hmm... Nothing too big." Dr. Sakai said. "At worst, I think you might just have a few static shocks. But nothing too strange."

"You said lethal radiation." Alex said a bit concerned.

"Oh, that." Dr. Sakai laughed. "That was a lie, oh well, we'll be investigating this place. You probably should just get out of here and return back to where you came from. Our machines haven't detected any radiation yet."

Alex just walked out of the trailer, and began to go back to the river. He looked back for a few seconds. He placed his hand on the ground and closed his eyes. There was a strange otherworldly aura coming out from that crater.

"You shouldn't do that." A voice said. Alex's eyes suddenly opened. He turned to face a person who looked slightly older in a checkerboard pattern business suit, he had messy white hair. He just stood there looking over Alex. "Others are watching you know."

"Who the hell are you?!" Alex asked surprised.

"I'm an Observer." He said. "Time and time again I watch worlds to see what happens. And I know who you are Alex!"

Alex quickly jumped back. He quickly assumed a fighting position and was ready to attack this strange man if it progressed any further. "I have no interest in a fight." He said. "I just felt like stopping you, because they may be interested in your talents. You were rather lucky to get away from them unscratched. They just thought you were just some kid. If they knew who you actually were and who your pet was and what you were capable of doing it probably wouldn't have ended the same way…"

"Who are you?" Alex asked.

"I told you, I'm an Observer. We've met once before, but I'm pretty sure you don't remember that..."

"I've never seen you before in my life." Alex said.

The Observer just smiled. "That wounds me." He said. "Oh well, that's fine, I imagine you don't want to remember things from back then… I figure I should probably say something else too. I know, ah yes, that's it!" Through out all of this the Observer just seemed like he was talking to the air. He was waving his hands. He then turned to Alex. "This is the last normal day of your life." He said.

Alex just stood there. He wanted to know just who the hell this person was. But there was something in the back of his mind telling him he had heard about this guy before. But from what? Or where?

"All right, Mr. Observer." Alex said. "Tell me, what made that crater?"

The person just glanced over there. "I don't see why I should spoil that. You'll find out soon enough as they come for you." He chuckled. "We may meet again, or you may die. Your Aura will be the deciding factor."

With that the Observer just disappeared into thin air. Alex just stood there, his body was shaking, he was absolutely terrified. "What just happened?" He managed to say.

He quickly began to run back home. As he crossed the river on the stones he accidentally slipped and fell in. He just got up out of the water completely drenched. "Damn it." He shouted frustrated, followed by some rather colorful language. He could have sworn he heard some people laughing. He looked around frustrated but didn't see anything. He imagined that he was being watched from some people from up on the trail.

It was then he noticed something reflecting on the water. An aurora. Colors were dancing in an otherworldly fashion in the skies, or at least on the reflection. He looked up at the sky, but there was nothing there.

"What the hell is going on?"

He suddenly froze. It was as though he was being watched. He looked around for that strange person. But he wasn't there. He looked upstream. The water was flowing down normally, but it seemed like whatever was staring at him was there above the water just floating there. But it was just air. Nothing visible. He took a step on another stone and then froze. There was a gust of wind. But he couldn't help shake the feeling that there was a giant invisible cat or something that had just lunged past him and barely missed him. And then he heard what sounded like a muffled roar.

"No." He muttered to himself. "I'm just tired. It's been a long day at school. I barely slept last night because of the test, it's been one weird thing after another, and now I'm talking to myself. Just great... I just need to go home and sleep until tomorrow."

He quickly began to run back to his house. When he got there, his brother was just staring at him a bit confused. "Why are you in such a hurry?" He asked. "Also, why are you all wet?"

"I fell in the river." Alex said. "Leave me alone."

He went up to his room and grabbed a clean set of clothes, and then he rushed for the washroom, and quickly went under a hot shower. He just let off a heavy sigh.

Right now he imagined his words had only sunk into Nick's head and he was now laughing uncontrollably. He closed his eyes and just let the hot water rush down his face. He just stood there. After a few minutes had passed he turned off the water and put on a set of dry clothes, knowing that he wasn't going back out a pair of pajama pants and an old ratty shirt.

He went down into the basement and just tossed his drenched school uniform into the washer, and turned it on. He made his way back up stairs, and saw his brother sitting on the ground in front of the TV watching it intently. "Anything interesting on?" Alex asked.

"Not at all." Nick replied.

Alex looked a tad annoyed. "That's fine." He managed to say. "Can I switch it to the news?"

"Sure."

Alex just grabbed the remote and switched the TV to the news. Nothing too important was on. "In local news, a meteorite hit a nearby field. No one was hurt, and people are urging everyone to stay away as scientists conduct research and eventually refill the crater with dirt. Also in local news, the serial killer has claimed his 10th victim. It's currently unknown what his methods are. An autopsy has shown that the victim's internal organs had exploded, much like the previous nine victims."

Alex just turned off the TV. "Want to play something?"

"Not really." Nick replied.

Alex pulled out his 3DS and just looked at it. He began to go through the menus looking for something that had changed with that strange update. "Did you have an update on your 3DS this morning?" He asked.

"No." Nick replied. "Why?"

"I was just wondering." Alex sighed.

As he looked through the menus it became clearer that nothing had changed. And then as he got past all of his downloaded games, there was a folder. He paused for a few seconds; it certainly wasn't there yesterday. All it was marked with was a # sign. On the top screen there was something that said #13. Perhaps against his better judgment he went into the folder. However on the top screen there was just a padlock that suddenly appeared. Around it was the text. "The battle hasn't begun yet."

He remained silent for a few seconds. He didn't feel like asking Nick about this, and thought it was all too strange.

They watched some TV, before eventually deciding to call it a day and headed up to bed.

Alex went underneath his covers, and Nick curled up into a ball at the foot of his bed, before transforming into a black fox like creature with long red and black hair. "Good night, Zoroark." Alex said.

"Good night Master." Zoroark replied.

* * *

><p>Back in the forest, where Alex had passed through, up in the trees Saki and Isaac were looking down at the crater. Both of them were rather annoyed. "They're still there." Saki said. "And we still haven't found that stowaway."<p>

"Well on the bright side we at least moved the ship away from there." Isaac said.

Saki just nodded. He jumped down from the branch and onto the ground. "That kid though, I think we can thank him for at least giving us a bit of levity in this situation."

Isaac also jumped down. "Yeah, I think we're going to need it." He said.

"Agreed." Saki replied.

"Saki, have you been able to get back in contact with Master Hand?"

"Unfortunately no. Nothing seems to be able to get this machine to work." Saki said. "Not even when the Aurora appeared."

Isaac just cringed. "Well then, in that case I think the best course of action is to begin our main objective then."

However, the man wearing the checkerboard suit suddenly walked out from behind the trees. The two of them quickly raised their weapons. In Isaac's case a sword. In Saki's a gun like weapon.

"I don't mean you harm." He said, raising his arms up. "I just simply wished to talk to you two."

"Who are you?" Isaac asked.

"I am simply an Observer." He said.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" Saki asked.

"I just wanted to see who were the first two Smashers." He said. "And who your target is."

The two of them just looked at him. They both were suspicious of this person.

"I'm Saki, and this is Isaac." Saki said. "We were sent here to find Nugai's successor."

The Observer just smiled. "Ah, so Master Hand sent you two." He laughed. "I can see why, Nugai explained to me about your abilities."

"You've met Nugai?! Where is he now?!" Isaac asked.

The Observer just shook his head. "I'm not the one who will tell you that. He told me to only let his successor tell the Smashers chosen."

"So, I take that to mean he's in a difficult position." Saki said.

"For him, not really." The Observer replied. "He can be anywhere at any time. Well then, I wish you luck. Hopefully, we will meet again."

With that he just disappeared.

The two of them stared at the empty space for several seconds.

"Well, he was absolutely useless…" Saki said.

The Observer however reappeared. "By the way, I guess I should say that you have two days before something else crosses over. It will be hostile."

"Two days?" Saki said. "Not a problem."

"Good." The Observer said, disappearing again.

* * *

><p>Lucas had been relaxing in the cave; currently he had a blanket wrapped around him, and the gel that he had been using to keep his hair up had run out, his hair was currently just partly covering his face. When suddenly outside he heard some sticks breaking. He just turned his attention out to there. Walking towards the cave was a boy about 13 years old wearing a long sleeved shirt. He just currently appeared to be crying.<p>

He froze, seeing someone else in the cave.

"Hello?" He said.

"Hello." Lucas responded.

The boy just entered into the cave. "You're in my secret base..." He said.

Lucas just shook his head. "Sorry." He managed to say. "It just looked like a comfortable spot."

The boy sat down. "You can stay," he said.

"Is something wrong?" Lucas asked.

"No." The boy lied. Lucas wasn't exactly one to pry into someone's mind with his psychic abilities, he always felt that they needed privacy, unlike Ness, who thought of the whole world as an open book. Yet, even without seeing the person's inner mind, it was quite easy to see the boy lying.

"Why is this your secret base?" Lucas asked.

"It's just a bit of a walk away from my house. It's peaceful and I just feel like I can run away and live here..." the boy said. He glanced at Lucas and noticed his bag. "Why are you here?"

"I ran away..." Lucas replied.

"What's your name?"

"Lucas. And yours?"

"It's Noah. Why did you run away?"

"Stress, fear..." Lucas replied. "Everyone had things planned for me, but I never wanted to do them and I just got sick of it."

Noah just nodded weakly. "I know what you mean. I don't feel like I'm living my own life…"

Lucas just weakly laughed. "I'm afraid of what the future holds…"

"Me too…" Noah said. "Want to come over to my house and play some video games?"

Lucas just looked at Noah confused. "Video games?"

"Yeah! Well, maybe not tonight since it's getting so late… but maybe tomorrow or something…" Noah said, pulling out a 3DS out of his pocket. "Actually to tide you over right now. Here's one I'm playing currently, it's called The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. I had borrowed it from a friend at school…"

He handed Lucas the strange device. He just investigated it. Underneath it was red, but on the top there was a case with a picture of Link and Epona going across Hyrule field. Lucas just was staring at the cover.

"Link is my favorite video game character." Noah said. "He's brave, heroic, fights for everyone. Goes on grand adventures. He starts out as just a normal person, a farmer, an ordinary little boy, but becomes much stronger and slays great evil!"

Lucas just let off a weak laugh. "_If Link could hear that now…_"

"I sometimes like to think that this forest is Hyrule, and I'm fighting monsters." Noah admitted, Lucas kind of just looked up at him. "It's kind of embarrassing admitting that." He laughed.

Lucas opened up the 3DS and just looked at every button. Eventually he hit the power button. It turned on and on the lower screen it was on a strange folder. On the lower screen it was just marked with a "#" but on the upper screen there was the picture of a folder and the words "#10" it currently had a padlock over it.

"Don't worry about that." Noah said. "It just came with a strange update last night. Here, I'll show you the game."

He took the machine from Lucas and shifted over to A Link Between Worlds. He started up a new game and just explained the controls to Lucas, handing it over to him, and watched as he played, giving him advice on how to play. "You've never played videogames before, have you?" Noah said.

"No." Lucas replied.

"You're quite weird." He laughed. "From my experience, only kids that come from super strict families don't play video games. What's your family like?"

Lucas just froze. "I don't have one." He replied.

Noah just looked at Lucas confused. "I don't understand. You've got to have parents, or siblings, right?"

"My mom died a few years ago…" Lucas replied.

Noah just froze. "Mine died last year. Sorry… I didn't mean to pry… I understand…"

In the game they had made it to the sanctuary from the caves, and encountered Yuga. Soon Link was knocked out and he was woken up in his house, where Ravio had appeared. Noah just took the game back. "Sorry, I probably should be going back." He said.

Lucas just nodded.

"See ya!" Noah said.

* * *

><p>Saki and Isaac had returned to their ship. They looked, but were unable to find any signs of the stowaway. Just two kids playing in a cave. "Think it was a traitor?" Isaac sighed. "That would explain the attack."<p>

"No." Saki replied. "We're still alive. He would of tried to kill us if he was a traitor..."

"I guess that's fair." Isaac replied.

"Well, I'm exhausted." Saki yawned. "I guess we'll worry about our search tomorrow."

"Yeah." Isaac said.

* * *

><p>Alex and ZoroarkNick did their regular morning routine. The only actual deviation was Alex looking at the calendar, changing it to April, and then reminding himself and Zoroark that it would be what he referred to as 'unfunny asshole day', so he should watch his back.

As Alex got to his first class, he just sat down in his chair and put his head on his desk. He didn't sleep all that well last night. Unlike the previous night where he was awake all night thinking about the test, this time he was thinking about the crater, that strange person, the aurora. He just felt that something big was about to go down. He felt a bit ashamed that his imagination was running wild like that. But he really couldn't help it, that person telling him it would be the last normal day of his life. He was trying to think what could possibly happen during today that would make it the last normal day of his life.

"_Maybe the school will blow up, and Z and I will be the only survivors or something…_ _Damn it, you're 17 years old, stop acting like a kid... maybe this is why you can't get a date..._" He just berated himself.

The morning announcements rang and several people in the class looked around confused. The teacher was running a bit late. She was never late, and was extremely strict with the students who were. Alex just pulled out his 3DS and began to play on it. "_Hmm… What if I make Tiz a Templar…_" He just began to tinker with the various jobs of the four characters in Bravely Default, until the teacher entered the classroom.

"Sorry I'm late." She said. "However, I was just told that there was a student transferring into our school, and he has this class as a home room."

Everyone looked a bit surprised. "A transfer? Now?" One student said.

"_That is odd… It's April now…_" Mike thought. "_There is only 3 months left of school… Not to mention this being a grade 12 class…"_

Several comments like that just went through the classroom. The teacher did their best to ignore them.

"This isn't just an April's Fools joke right?" One student asked confused.

"No, it isn't." the teacher replied. "You can come in."

From the hallway walked in someone wearing the all too familiar school uniform. The person was rather over dressed, wearing the dress shirt, the vest, and adding in a tie, instead of just the golf shirt that the majority of students opted to wear. Not to mention it was kind of sort of the start of April, while it was normally cool, the snow had fully melted quite early, and there was much hotter weather than what was normal for this time of the year. Alex couldn't help but sympathize with the kid, he probably wanted to make a good first impression, or he had a parent that had set aside his clothes for him to wear, he must of been blazing hot in that stupid uniform.

He looked around a bit nervously. As nice and professional as he looked dressed up in the uniform, it was mostly ruined by the messy hair.

It took Alex several seconds to realize that the person who was standing up at the front of the classroom was the person from yesterday in front of the train tracks. Alex did his best to not make a scene. He just looked at him in shock.

"Hello," he said. "My name is Cody, and I just transferred here. I hope that the time I spend in this class will be enjoyable."

The teacher directed Cody to sit down beside Alex. "Hello again." He said as he passed Alex. "I hope we can become good friends."

Alex just looked at him like he was crazy. "That may be a possibility." Alex muttered.

Within the hour of class it became apparent that Cody was no ordinary student. From what Alex could tell he was a genius. He was constantly raising his hand, getting every answer right. People were actually amazed. For some reason, the teacher let class out ten minutes early, and Alex just began to get up.

"Um, excuse me, Alex." Cody said. "Since I'm new here, could you by chance help me around and find the remaining classrooms?"

Alex just glanced at the schedule. There was something odd about it. It was exactly the same as his own. "It looks like we have the same classes." Alex said. "Just follow me."

Cody just nodded. "Thank you." He said.

Alex just walked forwards. He suddenly froze. There was something about this whole situation; he suddenly felt that at any moment he could just be stabbed in the back. Everything emanating around Cody was just constantly saying that he was dangerous.

"So, why did you transfer in?" Alex asked.

"My family just moved here." Cody said. "That's all there is too it."

"Is that so?" Alex said, not at all believing his reason. "And us meeting yesterday."

"Nothing more than a coincidence. I was just out for some fresh air and we met."

"_Bullshit_" Alex thought. "And why did your family move here?"

"My father got a promotion." Cody said. "He now manages a different branch of where he works and it just required us moving."

"Where does he work?" Alex wondered.

"You probably haven't heard of it." Cody said.

"Try me." Alex said.

"It's called T.I.N.S.G.O.H. Corp." Cody said.

"What do they do?" Alex wondered.

"Well, it's manufacturing." Cody replied. "He's now the plant manager here."

Alex just nodded. They went to the next class, and Cody had to introduce himself to the teacher. This time there wasn't an empty seat near Alex, so Cody was at the back of the class. Once again Cody was constantly answering as many questions as he could. When the second period was over, he made his way back to Alex.

"Do you mind if I eat lunch with you?" Cody asked.

"Not at all." Alex said.

The two of them walked, until Alex saw Nick. They sat down and began to discuss the various happenings of the day. They checked their 3DS's for the various StreetPasses that they got around the school. Eventually they both stared once again at Tei and the "Let's survive." Message.

"Now, let's talk, Tei." Alex said.

"Oh, that's just my Mii's name." Cody said. "I heard that it means Emperor in Japanese, and I thought it sounded pretty cool."

"Well then, Cody, let's talk." Alex said. "I want to know how you could answer each and every question so quickly. You don't just scream genius to me."

Cody laughed. "Well, the truth of the matter is, I've stopped aging a long time ago." He said. "And I've been forced to repeat my high school years over and over again, every time I go to a different high school somewhere else in the country, and I change my name so people don't recognize me. Just kidding. I was actually nervous for my first day and wanted to leave a good impression on the other students, so I studied a bit."

The two of them looked at Cody. "About yesterday." Alex said. "When we met at the train tracks. You said you knew about the other world." Cody's expression suddenly turned serious. His eyes shifted around. "What exactly did you mean?"

"If you don't know, don't worry about it. It's probably better if you forget about it."

"I'm also concerned about your let's survive message."

"Peaceful days died. Let's survive." Cody simply said. "It's just a quote from a game. I thought it would be fun to streetpass around and make people get a bit nervous."

"You're a dick." Alex said.

"I try," Cody smiled. "It's all I really have to look forwards to these days."

Cody suddenly paused. He pulled out a cell phone from his pocket that was currently vibrating. He just looked at the phone number and got up. "I'll be back in a few minutes." he said. He got up and walked out of the cafeteria, and then outside. Alex and Nick actually decided to follow. Cody had wondered away from the school grounds, and was now out past the football and soccer field.

It certainly wasn't strange since the school was intentionally built in a dead zone and the reception was incredibly poor. But a student who just transferred in wouldn't learn that for a few days at least. "Zoroark." Alex said. "Make us both invisible."

"Of course." Zoroark said. The two vanished in thin air. Really, it was just Zoroark using his illusions to make it so that people just saw past them.

They made their way up to Cody, who didn't hear them. "Sorry about that." He apologized. "This stupid school is in a dead zone. It took me forever to actually get a signal." There were several moments of silence. Both Alex and Zoroark tried to hear what the other person was saying, but it was next to impossible to hear anything. "I found the target. You're lucky." And once again there was silence. "I was barely able to actually appeal it, and why it was necessary for me to do this as opposed to someone else." Cody glanced around. "I'm sure they're suspicious of us." He clenched his fist and just pounded it against the football goal posts. "They may want me to act. Especially since the other is posing as a human." Cody suddenly pulled the cell phone away from his ear. The two of them could hear an uncontrollable laughter. "This isn't funny, it's serious!" he shouted. "Do you have any idea how dangerous this is if the illusion breaks?! If someone else sees him? If a Zoroark just appears in the school? I heard he even had a fight yesterday!"

Alex just turned to Zoroark who just nervously laughed. "Let's return." Alex said.

They quickly returned back to the cafeteria. The two of them just sat down. "So, you fought yesterday…"

"Well… they thought they could rob me, and I just taught them a lesson…" Zoroark replied.

Alex however wasn't looking too amused. "Fine. We'll talk about this later." Alex sighed. "Anyways, it seems like he's after us."

"What should we do?" Zoroark asked.

Alex just sat there and stared at the students in the cafeteria. "I don't think we can do very much." He sighed. "At least, not here. We have to lure him elsewhere. Home is probably our best bet…"

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Probably..." Alex sighed. "But, it's not like we've got many other choices. This guy. I think we might as well just get this over with as quickly and painlessly as possible. I don't want to lose you after all Z."

"Very well then." Zoroark sighed.

Cody came back into the cafeteria. He was putting his cell phone back into his pocket, and just sat down at the table. "Sorry about that." He sighed.

"What was the call about?" Alex wondered.

"Just someone from work." Cody sighed. "Wanted to know a few things about my shift and if I'd be willing to switch it."

"You work too?" Alex said a bit surprised. Well, honestly, it wasn't that farfetched about someone their age to be working. Just this guy seemed like a giant over achiever. Not to mention, didn't he just say that he had to move because...

"Yeah." Cody said. "It gets really exhausting during the weekend. Some days it feels like there is no end in sight. Ah well. Pays nice, and has a nice dental plan."

Soon lunch was over, and Alex and Cody were off to their next class. When the day was done Alex invited Cody over to his house so they could do homework, or more importantly, talk about that phone call and find out if he was a friend or a foe.

"So, this is your house?" Cody asked.

"Yeah." Alex replied. "It's not like we would be breaking into someone else's house."

Nick began to run towards the blinds and dropped down each and every one. Then Nick reverted back into Zoroark. "Now, I want an explanation about the other world." Alex said.

Cody just looked at Zoroark, however he didn't freak out.

"I still don't know what you're talking about." Cody said.

"I think you do." Alex said. "Tei. If you didn't you would be afraid of Zoroark, confused as to why there is a fictional character here in the living room."

Cody just let off a heavy sigh. "Well then, you're just making this so much easier." He pulled out a concealed gun and pointed it at the two. "I'm apart of a government service that tracks down those who are aware of the alternate world, usually with the intention of silencing them."

"Usually?" Zoroark said.

Cody just laughed. "Yeah. It's quite a grisly job. I have to kill some people, and they're much younger than you at times. At least that's how it used to be. At the end of 2007 the doorways between the two worlds were sealed shut, halting travel."

Alex just stared rather bored, not entirely to concerned about the fact that they were being held up at gunpoint. "And?"

"Despite the doorway being sealed shut, that Zoroark still managed to get through." Cody said. "The doorway was closed December 3rd, 2007 to be exact. Pokemon Black and White weren't released until 2010 in Japan. 2011 everywhere else. Your Pokemon somehow managed to get through the barrier. And I somehow doubt it was before that day when everything was sealed."

"Your right." Alex sighed. "But sorry, I don't know how or why he came through, and Zoroark doesn't know either. He was only an egg…"

Cody just lowered the gun. "I see. Listen, if you want to live a normal life, I suggest you ditch Zoroark."

"That's not going to happen." Alex said.

Cody just glared at them. "Fine," he managed to say. "I figured I should give you a fair warning."

"Then thanks for that." Alex sighed.

"When did Zoroark appear in this world, or it's egg?" Cody asked

"2010."

"Four years." Cody said. He just put away his gun, and looked away. "I've given you one last chance, if you want to live a normal life, you best get rid of him."

"You're the second person to warn me about no longer living a normal life in a week." Alex said rather annoyed.

"Is that so..." Cody laughed. "And who was the first."

"Some guy in a suit." Alex replied.

"I see." Cody said. "Well then, until we meet again. Also I suggest that you keep Zoroark on a leash, especially since he attacked people yesterday." Cody then left the house.

Both Alex and Zoroark just let off heavy sighs. "He's going to be troublesome."

"Master, if you wish I can leave."

"No." Alex said. "You're staying with me Z."

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, Cody was talking on his phone. "You jackass!" He snapped. "Do you have any idea of how troublesome this is going to be?! Anyways, it sounds like he met the Observer. I find it quite amazing, they weren't like a certain someone else, they actually came and confronted me." He began to laugh. "If it was anyone else, I'd probably say that was as stupid as hell, but hey they at least managed to entertain me for a few minutes. Everyone else I'd have to go through this long drawn out process of trying to get close to them and feigning to be their friend. I really like these no nonsense people. I'll keep you updated."<p>

He hung up the phone and just sighed. "Well, at least on the bright side, things will be more interesting around here." He hid the phone and just walked towards a car. Waiting there was a person in a suit.

"Agent Tei. That was quite quick."

"It was just some introductions." Cody said. "Nothing to big."

He got into the passenger seat, and pulled out a different phone. The other person got into the driver's seat.

"Agent Tei here, it seems like whatever has crossed over yesterday has yet to make contact with anyone. I don't think it might be a mindless monster this time. It might be humans from over there." Cody said. "I also inspected Target Delta today. He is currently clueless of the affairs of both worlds, despite having a Zoroark with him as a pet. The best option would be to capture the Zoroark now."

"How much did you reveal?"

"Not much." Tei sighed. "Just that he should get rid of Zoroark as soon as possible, and if he didn't he would be in danger."

"Do you think he will abandon Zoroark?"

"No, sir." Tei replied.

"Then, if necessary, do you think you will be able to pull the trigger to silence them both?"

"If it becomes necessary. However, don't you think that it would be better to draft them into our ranks? Zoroark will be a great help." Tei asked.

"No, I don't think that would be possible with them."

"Why sir?" Tei asked.

"There are reasons. Don't worry about them though. If they begin to get too close to the truth, I want you to eliminate them both."

"Understood." Tei said.

He hung up the phone and just let off a heavy sigh. "Why don't you kill them yourself you lazy ass."

The driver just glanced at Tei. "You really shouldn't say that." The driver said.

"I know. But, geeze it's not easy to kill a human. They just treat me like a weapon."

"To them, you are a weapon sir." the driver said. "It might be best if you just stick to your mission, I do have to report to them as well, and make sure that you're obedient. I can let the odd little comment slide, but more serious stuff..."

Tei just sighed. "I know, I know. I'll continue observing them, and kill them if it becomes necessary. The hardest part though would be making it seem like an accident. His mother would have a full-scale investigation launched, and no matter what it would be publicized. We wouldn't even be able to stop the media ban on this one with out raising eyebrows and answering a bunch of questions."

"Then may I suggest a simple car accident, sir?" the driver asked.

"I'll think about the opportunities." Tei said. "However, if they don't get involved, and only fight back in self defense, I see no reason to kill them. Besides, he will be suspicious of me from now on."

* * *

><p>"So, what was he saying about you fighting?"<p>

Zoroark just looked rather nervous and backed away from Alex. "They had it coming. They tried to attack me and rob me... and I fought back in self-defense... I just may of over did it though, since well, I was a bit irritable and..."

"Forget it. I trust you at least used your illusions to make sure there was no witnesses." Alex sighed. "Besides, I think there are bigger things to worry about."

"Such as?" Zoroark asked.

"Cody, or Tei, whatever he's supposed to be going by. Why do I get the feeling that my simple life is just going to be screwed up... Ah screw it, I'm going out for a walk!" Alex snapped. "I'm so frustrated! Who are these people, and why do they keep saying that my normal life is ending?"

"You said someone else in a business suit approached you?" Zoroark asked.

Alex just sighed. "Yeah." He said. "I met him yesterday on the walk. Hopefully I'll meet him again, and I can get some more answers."

"Okay." Zoroark said.

Alex just walked out of the door, and what could possibly be considered as the last normal moment of his life. He followed the route that he had taken yesterday, and eventually reached the river. He just looked across. The people were still there at the crater investigating it. He let off a heavy sigh. "Well, guess it's time to try and look for that strange guy."

* * *

><p>Saki and Isaac were in their ship. The search for the stowaway was once again fruitless; they were unable to find any sign of a path that he took. "At this point, I think that stowaway is long gone." Saki sighed.<p>

"Yeah." Isaac replied. "I guess we should be looking for Nugai and his successor now."

Isaac began to type at the computer.

"And then we should also be looking for any other portals..." Saki said. "At least everything else still works."

Isaac just nodded in agreement. And then several things began to appear on the monitors. "Something else is emerging..." Isaac said.

And then on the monitor they saw someone in white clothes emerging from the portal.

"That's a Zenith Soldier!"

"Oh no..."

Saki grabbed his cannon sword. And Isaac grabbed his sword. The two of them rushed out of the ship.

* * *

><p>Alex was looking rather bored. He crossed the river, and came back, but was unable to find any trace of that person he had met yesterday. He got as close as he could to the people investigating the crater as he could, but even then; he wasn't able to find anyone with that person's unique fashion sense.<p>

"Then again, he's probably not wearing the same clothes today." Alex muttered. "But I'm sure what he would be wearing would be equally unique... great now I'm talking to myself again, I'm going crazy."

He pulled out his phone for a few seconds and just began to text Zoroark. "I found nothing. But with him disappearing into thin air, I want a second opinion from an illusion master."

"Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes." Zoroark replied.

Alex just leaned back against a tree. He let out a heavy sigh.

Suddenly a kid came rushing into the clearing. He was dressed in white. It looked like a uniform. As for the kid himself, he was really pale, and honestly looked rather sickly. He had some short white hair. His eyes just met with Alex's.

Suddenly behind him two others came rushing through the trees, cutting through the branches with swords. Both were blonde. One had his hair up in a ponytail. He was wearing a yellow shirt, and had black gloves, black shorts, and boots. Upon closer inspection, his sword looked more like a gun. The other had a long yellow scarf, was mostly wearing blue, with the exception of his brown boots, and gloves, and a red chest piece of armor.

"Shit." the one with the ponytail said. "A civilian."

"This can't possibly get any worse." The one with the scarf said.

The kid took this time to rush towards Alex, and hide behind him. He was gasping for air.

Alex just grabbed a nearby stick.

"Crap." the one with the ponytail said. "Look, we don't really have a lot of time to explain this, and this doesn't really concern you, so it might be better if you just leave and forget all about this."

"And if I refuse?" Alex said annoyed.

"We don't want to hurt you." The one with the scarf said. He just raised up his hand and suddenly a golden giant hand full of energy shot out. Alex just jumped away, the hand reached where he used to be and suddenly clenched at that spot. The person in the scarf just looked in shock at Alex. "You saw that?"

"What was that?" Alex asked.

"It was just to stop you from interfering." the person in the scarf said. "Listen, you don't know what's going on."

"I know enough to see two jackasses bullying some kid half their age." Alex said. "Now what was that giant hand?"

The person with the scarf just sighed. "It's no use explaining, you're going to forget everything as soon as we leave." He said. "You probably wouldn't even believe me even if I told you."

"Try me." Alex replied.

He glanced back to see that the kid had collapsed by the tree. He was hoping that he had bought him enough time to try and get the kid to run away, to safety, or to get someone to call the cops. But that wasn't going to happen. The kid was gasping for air.

Noticing that Alex was slightly distracted, the person with the ponytail said. "Isaac, I've had enough waiting. I'm taking care of him. You get that brat."

"Saki wait!" Isaac, the one with the scarf, shouted out,

But Saki all ready rushed for Alex. He had ditched his weapon, and threw several punches right at Alex's stomach, which Alex was able to block. Saki just looked a bit shocked.

"So you can fight." Saki said smiling. "Good!"

Alex threw several punches towards Saki who just jumped back to avoid them. Alex followed up with a kick. Saki however tried to grab Alex's ankle.

"Saki, stop, we should just explain everything to him, in a calm and rational manor, and... I give up." Isaac muttered. He knew that once Saki got started in a fight, he wasn't going to listen to reason. He was just going to keep fighting until he was satisfied, an unfortunate side effect of being part Ruffian.

Saki was beginning to get a bit sloppy; letting the various punches from Alex actually connect. He got in closer, accepting the blows and delivered one to Alex, hitting him square in the abdomen, and winding him. Saki just backed up.

"Where do you think you're going?" Alex said. "The fight isn't over yet."

Saki just glanced back. "We're not here to hurt you. We're just getting that kid. You have no involvement with us."

"You're right, I don't." Alex said. "But, I'm not going to give you that kid."

Saki just glared at Alex. He could see in his eyes there was a certain fire for fighting. "If we continue, I can't guarantee your safety. Listen, we have a job to do, and unfortunately time is of the essence. We need that kid, and then we need to move on to our next target."

At those words Alex no longer hesitated; he lunched forwards and delivered a punch directly to Saki's jaw, sending him off to the side. "I'm not going to let you hurt anyone else."

"Saki you idiot." Isaac muttered. His hand was applied directly to his face. "You could have explained this better..."

Saki regained his composure and just glared at Alex. "Well then, that's your fault. Sorry."

He rushed towards Alex, however, something suddenly dropped in from the sky, and delivered a kick that sent Saki rocketing away. Standing there was Zoroark, disguised as a human.

"Damn it another person trying to play hero." Saki said. He began to get up; he however had a twisted smile across his face. His eyes had change color to red. He just looked at the two.

Isaac however walked up to him and punched him right in the stomach winding him. He followed up by waving his hands and out of nowhere a growth of vines appeared ensnaring him. "Cool down for a few minutes." Isaac said. He just turned to the newcomer and Alex.

"All right, Isaac." Alex said. "You said you wanted to calmly explain this."

"I don't remember giving you my name." Isaac said.

"Saki said it." Alex said gasping for air. "I'm Alex. Besides, you're the same as Zoroark, aren't you?"

"Zoroark?" Isaac said confused.

Zoroark dispelled his human illusion.

"You're not just cosplayers. You're from the other world." Alex said gasping for air. "You're the real Saki and Isaac."

"The real Saki and Isaac?" Isaac said a bit confused.

"It's a bit hard to explain." Alex sighed. He walked over to the tree and just collapsed against it.

Isaac pulled something out from underneath his shirt. It was the necklace with the Smash Pendant on it. He stared at it for several seconds and a fire began to emerge in it, pointing directly at Alex. "This meeting could have gone so much better." Isaac muttered. He walked over to Saki who was struggling. "Hey, if you're done acting like an idiot, I found our target."

"What really?" Saki said surprised.

The growth of vines just disappeared, and Isaac walked over to in front of Alex. He just sat down across from them. He placed his hand over the fire pit and suddenly fire began to burn. "I apologize for our actions earlier." Isaac said. "That kid that we were chasing. Where do I begin..."

"Just say the truth straight out." Alex said.

Saki just laughed. "Oh boy. Wait for it, he's going to start saying we're lying..."

"Shut up, Saki." Isaac said annoyed. "Okay, what we know is that he's a biological soldier from a corporation on our side. One of these soldiers is supposed to equate to about 10 people. All we know is that they were hired by someone and are making these soldiers to form an army."

Alex just nodded. "Okay then. You're telling the truth."

Saki just looked a bit confused. "How do you know that?"

"I just do." Alex said. "You have your secrets, I have mine."

"Well, now it's our turn for the question." Saki said. "How did you know that Isaac was telling the truth?"

Alex just paused. "I just know that Isaac would have nothing to gain from lying to me."

"You're lying." Saki said.

"My turn." Alex said ignoring Saki. "Who was your next target after that kid?"

"The kid just showed up and was never our target." Isaac replied. "We took action because he appeared from a portal. As a biological soldier, we didn't know if he'd cause damage, and we wanted to capture him or neutralize him. But our next target is you."

Zoroark just got ready to attack, however Alex raised his arm blocking him. "Z, wait. There is no aggression behind there words."

"If you say so Master."

"Why am I your target?" Alex asked.

"Hey, wait we get to ask a question now!" Saki said.

"Saki, it's fine, we'll have all our answers soon enough." Isaac said. "You're Nugai's successor."

Alex's grip suddenly tightened on the wooden stick that he had. Saki and Isaac began to feel that they had to tread lightly; otherwise they would end up regretting this.

"And how do you know that?" Alex asked.

Isaac reached for his Smash pendant. He took it off of his neck and Saki did the same. Isaac grabbed Saki's pendant and walked over to Alex. "We both have one, they're called Smash Pendants, and they point to what we're looking for. Master Hand told us to look for Nugai's successor."

Alex reached for a necklace that he was wearing, and pulled out a Smash Pendant. "It looks exactly like my cousins..." He muttered. "So, you're the real deal then. From the other world."

"Yes, we're Smashers." Isaac said.

Alex just laughed. "The Smashers. So, this is what everyone meant when yesterday was supposed to be my last normal day of my life."

The two of them just looked confused at Alex. "All things considered, you're taking this rather well. Two strange men, chasing after a kid, your told that he's a biological weapon, then you're told that we come here to meet you."

"Yeah." Alex replied, letting off a heavy sigh. "My cousin, the person you know as Nugai, told me that the video game worlds were real… I don't know why, maybe I'm just a gullible idiot, but I believed him. Anyone else would just call him insane, but I believed him. And now I've got two assist trophies from Super Smash Bros. Brawl in front of me."

"Assist Trophies? Super Smash Bros. Brawl? What's that?" Saki asked confused.

Alex just paused for a few seconds. He didn't know how to explain it; it just felt like something natural to him, something that he just assumed that people would know about when he was talking to them about it. "It's the third game in the Smash Brothers franchise." Alex said. "It's a fighting game, and well, it's probably better if I just show you. Can you follow me home?"

"Yeah of course."

They all got up, however, Alex glanced over at the boy who was still unconscious behind the tree. He walked towards him. "What are you doing?" Saki asked.

"We can't leave him out here." Alex replied.

"We can and will." Saki replied. "He's a weapon."

"I could say the same about you." Alex coldly said. "Listen, I don't care about your struggles, or what you think about them. He needs medical attention right now."

"And do you think you can give it to him?" Saki said.

"No, but it's better if he's in a house than outside. I can at least give him some food and water and dry clothes." Alex said.

"If you're going to house him, I want no part of it." Saki said. "Isaac, I'm waiting in the ship."

And with that, Saki was off. Isaac couldn't stop him. He just froze and looked at Alex and Zoroark. "I have to apologize for Saki's rashness." He said. "These soldiers have caused a lot of destruction in our world."

"How about I just show you where I live, and then you can get Saki and come back." Alex said.

Isaac nodded. "Very well then."

Alex and Zoroark grabbed the young boy. Alex started with him on his back, and then when they made it back to the road, they switched who was carrying him. "Geeze he weighs a ton." Alex said.

"Seems like no different than all of the text books." Zoroark said.

"You're just too strong for your own good." Alex sighed.

They walked back to their house. There were a few people out working on their gardens or walking their dogs that they passed, but not one stopped to ask why they were carrying a young 11/12ish year old kid on their backs, or Isaac's odd attire. Alex figured that Zoroark had used an illusion to make the kid invisible, and Isaac was wearing normal clothes.

They soon got to the rather big house. Isaac was just staring in shock. "You live here?"

Alex just nodded. "Yeah. It's not that much. Kind of too big for just Z and I."

"Okay, I'll return to Saki, and try to talk some sense into him." Isaac sighed.

Alex just nodded, and watched as Isaac departed, it looked like he dropped something in the bushes as he passed. As Alex got to the door he heard a rustling in the bushes. He glanced and there was a brown rather plump creature about the size of a squirrel with blue beady eyes, and what looked like a shark's tail. It wasn't like anything he had seen before.

"What is that?" Zoroark asked.

Alex just looked at it confused. He approached it, but it quickly hid back the bushes. "Must be something Isaac left… A djinn maybe?"

Zoroark just nodded accepting the answer.

He just made his way inside, and the closed the door. They then walked up to a spare room and placed the boy down on the bed.

"Get some clothes," Alex said. "I think the first matter of business is that we change him into something a bit more comfortable."

Zoroark nodded. "There should still be some small clothes, though they might be a bit big on him."

And then Zoroark ran off to search for the clothes. Alex just gently began to shake him. "Excuse me?" Alex said. "Are you okay?"

The boy began to open his eyes. He looked around surprised, and began to get his bearings. "Where am I?" He asked.

"You're in my house. You collapsed in the forest." Alex replied.

He just went silent. It was as though his mind was trying to process everything. "Where were those people who were chasing me?" He asked.

"They returned to their ship for now." Alex replied. "Listen, can you tell me a bit about yourself. They described you as a weapon."

"I am..." the boy replied.

Alex just was silent. "Um... What's your name?"

"San." The boy replied. "Did you chase off those people?"

"No, not really." Alex said. "They just didn't want to hurt me, and left."

"You don't look strong enough... Especially if those two were serious." San replied.

There was suddenly a knocking at the door. Alex just went over, and standing there was Zoroark. "Here." He said tossing the clothes. Alex just caught them. "I'll be downstairs."

Alex just nodded. He turned to San. "Listen, you need to get out of those clothes, and into something dry. Also, you're filthy, you should take a shower too." San nodded in agreement. Alex then led him to the washroom. "Sorry about these clothes, they may be a bit loose on you, but we worked with what we had..."

"Thank you." San said.

"Oh, and be careful, the water is reversed. Hot is cold, cold is hot." Alex said.

San just nodded, before closing the door. Alex let off a heavy sigh and made his way down into the TV room. He glanced at the clock on the wall, it was all ready 6PM. He just let off a heavy sigh. "Today is going by way to fast." Alex muttered. "We haven't had dinner yet..."

Zoroark just laughed.

He reached for the remote controller and flipped it to the local news. He began to run throughout the house getting some food to prepare, in between making sure that the food wasn't boiling over on the stove, he rushed back to TV room to catch snippets of the news.

"And now we have a local news story. Born and raised in this town, after highschool he set out and built up a company known as Zenith."

The President of Zenith appeared on the screen. A box appeared, revealing his name, Thomas.

Alex was honestly rather surprised at how young the person was. He had to only be a couple of years older than him. Just short black hair and a rather expensive suit that he looked really uncomfortable in.

"By the end of the summer we will have our first product ready. Previously, we had a prototype about 6 or 7 years ago, and during our tests ran into some huge problems." Tomas said. "At the time, everyone was furious when we scrapped that plan, but I think it's for the best. I wish for you all to await our product unveiling on August 24th."

"I'm sure the world is excited to know what corporations, countries, and private investors have seen."

"Yes, I can only hope that our product will live up to those rather large expectations that people have."

"I wonder what it is." Zoroark said.

Alex just sighed. "We'll find out."

He returned back to the kitchen. Zoroark kept him posted on the local news, but nothing more of the crater was said. When the food was done he reached for two plates and then froze. He remembered that San was here in the house. The water had stopped running a while ago, and San still wasn't down there. He kind of at least expected the kid to come looking for them. Alex just got up, and walked up to the guest room. San was just sitting at the edge of the bed, looking off into space. The clothes that they had given him were rather loose. "San, why don't you come down?" Alex said. "We've got food, and then afterwards we can play some games or watch some TV or something."

"Okay." San said.

They ate dinner at the table. Partway through the doorbell rang. Alex just stood up, and walked to the door. He was thinking of ignoring it, thinking that it was most likely just door to door salesmen, but when he got there, Saki and Isaac were standing there.

"Come in, I made enough food for you too." Alex said.

The two of them just walked into the house. They got food from the pots on the stove, and then Alex escorted them into the dining room. Saki just froze and stared at San. San stopped eating, and just was staring at them terrified. "Why is he here?" Saki asked.

"San is a guest, just like you." Alex calmly replied sitting down, and returning to his meal.

"San? Is that his name?" Saki said a bit confused.

"Yeah. What about it?" San asked.

"You are one of those soldiers, right?" Saki said. "Because that name isn't on our intel."

"Shows how much your intel sucks." San replied. "Then again, you're not even Smashers. Just their rejects."

Saki reached for his cannon sword, however Alex grabbed his wrist, and stopped him from raising his hand up.

Alex just cleared his throat. "Look, I know this is probably my fault, but can we just ignore the hostilities towards each other for a few minutes." They all just glared at him. "Just a thought..."

Dinner went by awkwardly. When it was done, they just all continued to sit down, across from each other and continuing to glare. Zoroark had taken then dishes to the kitchen and put them in the sink to be cleaned later, while also simultaneously, taking Saki and Isaac's weapons, so they wouldn't make a mess of the place.

"Now then, can we not fight?" Alex sighed.

"Fine." Saki said. "You were going to explain how you knew us, and our world."

"Right..." Alex sighed.

Saki's attention however turned to San. "But first, why is he in this world? And if you're thinking of housing him, maybe you should know his story too."

Alex just nodded. "I was hoping to learn."

San just laughed. "If I tell you, you'll be a target. Although, if you're aligning yourselves with the Smashers, you'll be our target anyways. And if you continue to house me you'll be a target anyways. The only thing you can do to continue to live a normal life would be to kick us all out right now."

"All ready someone from the government has approached me because of Zoroark." Alex said. "So, I'm a target all ready."

"Fine." San said. He turned to Saki and Isaac. "I ran away. As poor as your intel is, you must at least know that everyone there doesn't have free will. That the soldiers are just pawns. Those that do get free will have only one choice, dieing. They are either eliminated, or try and run away and die then."

"So you ran." Alex said.

San just nodded. "There is a legend among the soldiers, and scientists. That only one other person had escaped from that place. He is known as the First San. He escaped, and no one was ever able to find him."

"And you wanted to find the First San?" Alex wondered.

"No." San replied. "If he did escape, he'd long be dead anyways."

"Why's that?" Alex wondered.

"In exchange for super human strength, and power, their life expectancy is very short." Saki said. "Our intel says 20 years at the maximum."

San just nodded. "And that's on the extreme luck side of the scale... Besides, if the First San was real and not just a myth, he would be thousands of generations ago. Back then; the life expectancy was much shorter. About 13 or so. Our lives are also accelerated, so we reach about the age of an 8-year-old human in only a few weeks. To you this must sound like science fiction."

"I believe it." Alex replied.

"Come to think of it, you're quite mysterious yourself." Saki said, glancing at Alex. "We were told to find Nugai's successor. But, now that we're here, and looking at you face to face, I don't know, you're far too plain. Yet at the same time, you give me chills."

"I'm just a normal human." Alex replied.

"You're lying." Saki said. "You're not normal. There's something about you. There had to be a reason why Nugai chose you."

"Personal biases are my guesses." Alex replied shrugging.

"So, you've met with Nugai?" San asked.

"No." Isaac said. "He met with Master Hand, and then departed just as quickly as he came. Only interacting with the kid Smashers. And even then, just a limited amount to get to Master Hand."

"Well, since you've answered my questions so far, I'll answer one of yours. The man you know as Nugai, is my cousin." Alex replied.

"Nugai's cousin, eh?" San laughed.

"Oh, seems like the brat has even heard of him." Saki said annoyed.

"He's only considered the biggest threat to everything." San said. "To our mission."

"Fusing the two universes, right?" Alex said.

San just nodded.

"Now that you've run away from them though, what are you going to do?" Alex asked.

"If I return with you, they may forgive that. But I doubt it. I now have free will, I'm not a puppet like the others, I'll be sentenced to death. Even knowing what I do, it's pointless, since they won't listen." San said. "I'm a traitor, it's as simple as that. I will be a traitor until one of us dies, I'm their enemy now."

"So, Saki, Isaac, he's our ally now, you got that?" Alex said.

"Sure." Saki said, not exactly all too enthusiastic of the prospect. "Now then, my next question: where is Nugai, can we meet him?"

"No, you can't." He said.

"Why? Is he dead?" Isaac asked.

"No." Alex sighed. He collapsed on the chair. "He's perfectly fine, we just can't get to him."

"Really, so, where is he now?" Isaac asked.

Alex just looked up at the two of them. He cringed and looked around the room a few times. He didn't want to answer it but after ten seconds of silence he had finally mustered up the courage to say it.

"An insane asylum." Alex sighed.

The three just looked at Alex in shock. "What?" They said.

"My cousin is in an insane asylum." Alex replied.

"This is just crazy." Saki said. "Why? What happened? Why would he be there?"

Alex just looked at the ground. "One day, he decided that the best way to try and stop the worlds from fusing was to announce that plan, and that people planned on making the worlds fuse. It went as about as well as you would expect it to."

"Why would he do that?" Isaac wondered. "He can't be insane."

"He isn't." Alex said. "He sits there in the insane asylum just waiting for something to happen."

"Like what?" Isaac asked.

"I don't know." Alex replied. "I've gone to visit him, but he never has really said anything to me. He just asked if school was doing fine, and if I was making friends just fine."

"And are there others that go to visit him?"

"Not really." Alex sighed. "Most of the family members have decided to forget about him, and have now left him completely alone. He just sits in his cell waiting."

"What could he be waiting for then?" Saki wondered.

"If I'd have to wager a guess, the worlds to be fused and him to be seen as correct so he could go free." Alex said.

"I doubt that would let him go free." Isaac said.

"It most likely won't happen." Zoroark sighed. They sat there in silence, the two Smashers now thinking about the new information that they had.

Saki pulled out what appeared to be a cell phone. "I still can't contact the Smash Mansion." He said frustrated. "Geeze. That attack..."

"Well, I think we should at least write down this new information for when we are able to contact it." Isaac said.

Saki nodded in agreement and began to type something on the phone. "'Nugai, status alive, unable to battle.' How does that sound?" He asked.

"Close enough." Isaac said.

"'Nugai's successor found. Currently unknown if willing to help us.'"

"I'm willing to help." Alex said. "Just I don't think full time. I've got other things to worry about, I'm a high school student, and then college next year..."

"Okay, 'currently able to help part time.'" Saki said. They just nodded several times.

Alex glanced at his glass and noticed that it was empty. "I'm getting more water, would you guys like some?" He asked.

The three just nodded. Alex then got up and grabbed their empty cups, and left the room.

Saki and Isaac were glaring at San. They weren't fully ready to trust him just yet. "You think we're behind the mansion attack?" San asked bluntly.

"Well, it's a hypothesis." Isaac replied. "We escaped from an attack, you appeared in this world. You escaping from them during the confusion of battle."

San just grabbed his arm and looked away in fear. "What you said is partly true." San said. "We weren't fully responsible for that attack... but we did take part in it. I used the confusion to escape..."

Saki stood up, however Zoroark, immediately got on the table between them. "Let San speak." Zoroark said.

San was just beginning to shake. He hugged himself tightly. "He appeared... saying that we were after the same thing, the fusion of the two universes. Saying he intended to attack the Smash Mansion, seemingly knowing about your plans about going out that night, and sending others to the other world. The scientists agreed, giving him five squads."

"Who is this person?"

"I don't know." San said shaking.

"Then what good are you, brat?" Saki muttered.

"Everything about him was terrifying. Everything he said was wrapped in a nice and joking tone, but every little bit of him radiated with cruelty." San said. "He viewed everyone as pawns to do his bidding."

"Sounds like a very bad man." Alex said returning with some cups and a pitcher full of water. "So, you were saying that there was an attack, and you haven't been able to contact the mansion since?"

"That's correct." Saki sighed. "I don't know why, maybe it's because the hole isn't big enough, or there is still a time delay."

"The ship said that time was pretty much 1:1." Isaac said. "Still, that doesn't make any sense why we can't contact them."

"I only hope it's just the Smash Mansion's communications were knocked out because of the attack." Saki said. "It could be something else though, such as an external source jamming the signal, or intercepting it, or something."

"So, what happened anyways with this attack?" Alex asked.

"Well, it happened as we were preparing to leave, so we actually had to leave super quickly, because the mansion was under siege." Saki said.

"Actually, here let me explain." Isaac said. "The Smashers is a group that fights for peace. And well, we have a bunch of people who oppose us. They either somehow knew of our plans to try and stop the worlds from fusing, or knew that we would be working against them. And they attacked us so that it could benefit them and they could help get the worlds to fuse."

"So, there are those on your side that would benefit from the worlds fusing?" Alex asked.

"Of course." Saki said. "Or they just want to create chaos where they could be unopposed."

Alex nodded.

"But anyways yes, the Smash Mansion was attacked." Isaac began.

Isaac began to recount the attacks, how they went through various forms of security. Occasionally, Alex and Zoroark would stop them, asking questions, and they would answer them to the best of their ability. "Well, there are multiple levels, Polygons are the weakest, Wireframes are stronger, and Alloys are armored Wireframes… But if any is set to Cruel, they immediately become much stronger, and deadlier."

"So, it's just like Multi Man Brawl, and cruel brawl…" Alex said. "Multi Man, they use their numbers to try and overpower you, while they can be knocked away effortlessly. But cruel, they can knock you away effortlessly, and it's difficult to survive."

"Exactly." Saki said.

Their explanations continued. Until eventually…

"And that's what we know." Isaac finished.

"Thinking back, considering the damage that the ship does have, it's almost a miracle that we made it." Saki said. "The ship's diagnostic said that it wouldn't be able to warp."

"So was your ship the meteor shower?" Alex wondered.

"Probably." Isaac said.

"And then you also created that crater." Alex said.

The two just nodded. "Where is your ship now?" Alex wondered.

"Hidden." Saki replied. "Where no one will be able to find it."

Alex wasn't entirely too sure about that. He took a drink of water and just thought about everything for several minutes. "So, do you think the other Smashers are fine?"

"Yeah." Saki said. "Master Hand might have unleashed the Cruel Alloys. They would of been defeated in a matter of minutes if they were lucky."

"Worse case scenario they're all dead though." Zoroark pointed out.

"True." Saki said. "But, we have ways of surviving, and besides, Master Hand wouldn't allow that to happen. The Smashers won't be defeated that easily. We'd go out in a bang if we did die. Not in some cowardly cheap sneak attack."

"Well, I guess we can only hope that it's just the communication lines that were destroyed in the attack." Alex said. "Two videogame characters are stranded in our world, after an attack on their HQ, and now people on both ends want to make the worlds fuse. This almost sounds like an adventure. And here I was beginning to think that life was going to be boring, nothing exciting ever goes on here, and that I had to deal with a large amount of boredom this summer. Well, Saki, and Isaac, I'll do my best and help you in any way I can."

"That's great!" Saki said.

"I'll even let the three of you stay here." Alex said.

"Why? What about your parents?" Isaac inquired. "You can't possibly live here alone."

"The house is my mom's but she's gone out and won't be back for at least a month." Alex replied. "If she does show up, she usually gives plenty of notice."

"Does she know about Zoroark?" Saki wondered.

Alex just laughed. "Well, no. I'm pretty sure she just thinks he's one of my friends, who just happens to have been kicked out of his house and is now staying here."

"I see." Isaac said. "Well, if she comes home as a surprise, how are we going to keep it a secret?"

Alex just glanced over the two of them. "Well first, ditch the clothes. You're going to have to be much more casual over here. Well at least you Isaac. Saki, I think you might be able to get away with that if you loosen up, and look more casual. But yeah, the armor definitely has to go. Especially if you're in public."

Isaac just nodded. "Very well then." he said.

"How long do you plan on staying in this world anyways?" Alex wondered.

"As long as it takes to clean up this crisis and to make sure that the worlds never fuse. It could take days, it could take weeks, months, or even years."

"I hope it doesn't come to that." Alex sighed. "Personally, I'd like this done by the end of summer. I've got my life ahead of me, and well, there are things I'd like to do."

"Well, all we can do right now is just do our best." Saki said.

San just looked at them, he felt left out, however Alex just walked over to him and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Now then, it's Tuesday, so it's normally Mario Kart night." Alex sighed. "I guess I still haven't explained how I know all of you. I guess that's next... So, since we have 5 people I guess that leaves out the SNES one. So, 64, Doubledash, Wii, with one person sitting out... or I guess we could do download play with DS and 7..."

The three just looked at Alex like he went crazy.

"Ah well, just follow me." Alex said. "All will become clear in a few minutes."

They just followed Alex down some stairs into the basement. He turned on some lights and walked into a room. And they followed him in. "Saki, and Isaac, to me you are nothing more than video game characters." Alex began. "Welcome to my collection."

They looked around; there were several shelves with tons of different games. Alex just walked forwards to one that had some drawers neatly labeled. He pulled out a small plastic case and inside it were numerous small cartridges. "Isaac, yours is the easier one to explain." Alex said, pulling out two small cartridges. "You're from a game called Golden Sun. Two games on the gameboy advance and there is a third game staring your son Matthew on the DS. But I'm probably just talking gibberish to you right now."

Alex walked over to the TV, and turned it on, followed by inserting the Golden Sun cartridge into a gameboy player on a purple gamecube.

"In this world, there are things known as video games. On the screen there are characters that move from our inputs. And they go on grand adventures." Alex explained. "To us, you're just fictional characters."

He showed Isaac several battles in Golden Sun. After a few random encounters Alex turned off the Gamecube. "Now, Saki. Yours is a bit more complicated." He began to go through a bunch of much bigger gray cartridges piled on each other, only differentiated by labels that had been printed out and put on the top. He grabbed one followed by a black cartridge that said gameshark. He put the cartridge into the gameshark, and then put it in a different machine. "Your game originally wasn't released in North America. I've luckily got the original cart. I've also got the VC release, but this will do for a few a quick demonstration." On the screen, a highly polygonal version of Saki was running through a foggy landscape shooting at bugs. But once that level was over, Alex just turned off the N64. "The reason I know you, and know your capabilities is because I've played your games. As for what is Super Smash Brothers."

He went over to a white box and turned it on, followed by grabbing a white remote and pointing at a window on the TV screen. Alex just handed out gamecube controllers to Saki, Isaac, and San. He just let the opening cinematic play as he explained the controls.

"Basic controls, this is the control stick to move, A, the big green button for Smash attacks, they can be charged, and B the little red one for special attacks." Alex explained. "The c-stick, the yellow one, does Smash Attacks, however they can't be charged. X and Y, these two cause you to jump. And R or L can do shields. A with L or R is grabs."

"Okay..." Isaac said.

They got to the VS menu screen, and they stared a bit overwhelmed at all of the characters. Eventually they managed to fight a quick three stock match. Saki had picked Wolf, while Isaac had picked Link. Alex had picked Lucas, while San had chosen Bowser. Alex gave them a few minutes to figure out all of the moves of their characters. He couldn't help but laugh when Isaac pulled out a bomb from didn't throw it away fast enough.

In the end, Alex was the victor. San seemed to have adjusted the quickest to everything and was in second, followed by Saki in third, and Isaac in fourth.

"To me, the Super Smash Bros. is a crossover fighting game. Having a good portion of Nintendo's properties in one spot, fighting each other." Alex said. "But with all of their characters, there are some that aren't playable fighters, but appear during battle from items. These are Assist Trophies. You guys can play a few rounds with Z, there's some things that I need to check up on my computer."

Alex handed the controller to Zoroark, and made his way to a desk. He turned it on and just watched the match for several minutes. Then the match was over, Zoroark had come in first, San second, Saki third, and Isaac fourth. "Z, you should show them the assist trophies."

"Right." Zoroark replied.

He went out of those menus to training, however San was just staring at Alex, or rather past Alex and at the desktop background that was on the computer. "That's him!" San said.

Alex just looked at San confused. "Who's what?"

"On the monitor! That's the person who came for the attack…"

Alex just turned around to look at the desktop background, it was the picture of official artwork from Kid Icarus Uprising. Hades' giant hand, was reaching for Pit, who had his bow out and was ready to fire an arrow.

Saki and Isaac just rushed over to the monitor. They just stared at the purple man. "That's our enemy?"

"Yes." San said.

Saki just looked at Alex. "Tell us everything you know about him." He demanded.

Alex just laughed. "Hades, he's the main villain of Kid Icarus Uprising. He's lord of the underworld."

"And what is his battling capabilities?" Isaac asked.

"He's powerful. He destroyed the Three Sacred treasures, and it took the power of many gods to beat him." Alex said. "He was cut in half, and even that didn't stop him. Even having his head punched off was a minor inconvenience to him. And then, even when he was beaten, and was nothing more than a spirit, he still had the power to taunt, and say that he would return at least 25 years later…"

Saki and Isaac just nodded.

"We need to return to our ship for the time being, and log in all of this information." Saki said. "We'll also try and repair the communications and get in contact with everyone else. They need to know who was behind the attack."

Alex just nodded. "Very well then."

"We'll come back tomorrow." Saki said.

Alex just followed them upstairs, and watched as the two went off. Alex just let off a sigh. Those two were exhausting to be around, but now he knew it was only just the beginning.

"So, now that they're gone and we're down to three players, can Mario Kart night begin?" Zoroark asked.

"I don't see why not." Alex said.

The three went down into the basement and began to play some Mario Kart Double Dash. The first two races, San wasn't doing all that well, placing last and fourth respectfully. While Alex and Zoroark had placed first and second respectfully in both races.

The third race San had managed to get into third. The following races were rather intense. With whoever was in the lead at that exact moment was finding it rather difficult to keep it like that. The three of them remained silent. Only the odd curse of frustration came out of Alex or Zoroark's mouth, but after that and maybe a brief chuckle, they were back to their focused selves.

After 16 races, and having gone through all of the tracks, they ended the round. "Okay." Alex laughed. "That was good. You're a quick learner kid."

"Geeze, I couldn't keep up with you two." Zoroark sighed. "He's just like you, you know that?"

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"Just, once you've got the hang of it, it's only extreme luck that can beat you." Zoroark sighed.

"Well, don't feel too threatened. He's not going to take your second place belt." Alex teased.

"Not to mention he got so into it, he was just like you when you play." Nick sighed. "Not making a sound."

"Oh come on, I make plenty of sounds." Alex said. But he did notice that San was completely focused on the game while they were playing, he wasn't exactly joining in on the comments. Which might of been a good thing considering Alex was pretty sure he let out some less than savory words about the blue shell a few times.

"So, Mario Kart Wii next?" Alex asked.

"Sure why not." Nick said.

They both glanced at San, and waited for a response. But he didn't exactly give one.

"San, would you like to play another game?" Alex asked.

"Yes." San said.

They played Mario Kart Wii, 2 hours later, Alex glanced over at the clock and noticed that it was 10 PM. They made their way upstairs, and Alex grabbed some old pajamas for San. "Here are some pajamas to change into." Alex said. He tossed them over, and San effortlessly caught them. Alex on the other hand just noticed the neatly folded uniform from earlier. "I'll wash this for you." He said.

"Thank you." San replied. "Listen, Alex, you're nice. Perhaps too nice. If you continue to shelter me, they will find you, and they will attack you. Since you're just a normal human, you won't stand a chance."

Alex just nodded. "Perhaps. But looks can be deceiving."

"Zoroark alone won't be able to protect you. And neither will the Smashers."

Alex just nodded. "I know." He said.

"Even still you will choose to protect me?"

Alex just nodded.

San just laughed. "I don't know if you're brave or stupid."

"Well, get changed, I'll go throw these in the washer." Alex sighed. He rushed down to the washing machine and just threw it in, making a mental note to switch it to the dryer before he went to bed.

He made his way upstairs to check on San. What he saw was a bit shocking. The kid hadn't closed the door while changing, currently he was just topless, however his body had several bandages wrapped around him. There were also several bruises and scars that were visible. Alex just looked at the kid in shock.

After getting over his shock, he walked over to San. The kid was unfazed by Alex's appearance. He didn't attempt to hide it. He just put on the shirt as though nothing had happened.

Alex didn't know what to do. For now he decided to not make a scene. He just directed the kid to the washroom so he could brush his teeth and do his business. Alex also made sure to turn on a night light so if San woke up in the middle of the night, having to go to the washroom, he could at least find it in the unfamiliar place.

When he was done, Alex just took him back to the spare bedroom, and tucked him in. His hand had brushed against San and there was a sudden spark.

* * *

><p>"San is a weakling."<p>

"He's the weakest one among us."

"This San is a failure."

"Toss him out."

"Leave him to die. He's worthless."

* * *

><p>Alex just looked a bit confused, and just sat at the edge of the bed. "Did you have fun playing those games?" Alex asked.<p>

"Fun?" San questioned. "I don't know."

"Well, get some rest, we'll probably be playing more tomorrow." Alex said.

He walked out of the room, and turned off the lights. He made his way downstairs and just looked at Zoroark who was curled up into a ball on the couch, while still disguised as a human.

"Hey, Z." Alex said just poking him.

"Quit that." Zoroark growled.

"Z…"

"Do you think it's a smart idea to have that kid in here?" Zoroark asked.

"No not really." Alex admitted. "We can't really just ignore everything else to watch over him, and if he's from the other world, there will be others looking for him. If they come here, and try to get him, I doubt I'd be able to protect him."

Zoroark just nodded.

"If Saki and Isaac are willing to look after him, and protect him, but I doubt that will be the case." Alex sighed.

"Well, you can ask them tomorrow." Zoroark said.

"What about tomorrow, Zoroark? Who's going to look after him tomorrow?"

"I can stay home from school and look after him." Zoroark said.

Alex just nodded. "Very well then."

The two of them just sat watching a bit of TV in silence before making their way upstairs. Alex did one runaround the house checking that all doors and windows were locked tight. As he was passing by the room San was in, he just paused. He looked into the room to make sure the kid was okay. San was tossing and turning in his sleep, it was clear that the child was having a nightmare. Alex was also thinking about those brief flashes that he saw.

"_That's never happened before, what the hell was that!?_" he thought to himself.

San suddenly stopped tossing and seemed to return to a normal sleep. Alex walked away, and made it to the washroom where he brushed his teeth and did his business. He eventually made it back to his room and then he just collapsed on the bed. He looked up at the ceiling. "Tomorrow." He muttered. "What does it bring?"

Zoroark curled up into a ball at Alex's feet. "There is only one way to find out, Master."

*Break*

Elsewhere, Saki and Isaac were doing what they could to repair the ship. "I still don't trust him..." Saki said.

"San, or Alex?" Isaac asked.

"San."

Isaac just nodded. "I left a Djinn there to watch over him incase he did anything suspicious. Now then, something else is going to emerge tomorrow."

Saki just nodded. "I'm going to try and pull an all nighter to get this fixed." He said. "Master Hand really needs to know this information."

Isaac just nodded in agreement. "Okay." He said. "Let me know if there is anything I can do."

Saki just shook his head. "Sorry, there isn't much."

"Listen, Saki, maybe you shouldn't pull an all nighter with something emerging tomorrow…" Isaac said rather concerned. "I mean we'll have to fight it off. If you're exhausted, that could impact our fight."

"I'll be fine." Saki said. "I can go 5 days without sleep before it impacts me."

Isaac just nodded, before returning to his room.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, Lucas was in the cave. He had remained hidden. Noah, had come back and smuggled another blanket out to him that he was currently using to cover himself. But even with the two blankets that he had, he was finding it a bit cold. "Did I do the right thing?" He muttered to himself, just drawing something on the ground with his finger. "Ness probably really hates me… the Smash Mansion is probably going crazy looking for me now…"<p>

He just leaned back against the wall and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, in a castle in the underworld, Hades was sitting on a throne. His head was currently just resting on his hand, and he looked rather bored. "Sir," A person said, rushing into the room, and bowing in front of him. "The attack on the Smashers' base failed. They were still able to escape to the other world."<p>

"Failed?" Hades laughed. "I don't see it like that. It's true that three Smashers were able to escape to the other world, but now the rest of them will be stuck in this world for the time being. They will be much more cautious and won't be able to just go into the next world without the fear of another attack."

"You all ready knew sir?"

"Of course I knew." He laughed. "I can see everything! Anyways, it didn't matter if we succeeded or failed, I got what I wanted either way… the other world will soon be in chaos, as monsters enter it. People will die, and I get souls. The only real question was if there would be Smashers to meet them. Ah well, it doesn't matter that much. The Smashers also have to find the one person that they're looking for."

"And do you know who that is sir?"

"No…" He began to grit his teeth. "That outsider, he must of known I was watching… Everything about that person that he showed Master Hand, was blocked. Even when Master Hand was showing those two Smashers it was blocked… Someone who can stop the Omniscience of a God…"

"Sir?"

"All I know is that outsider's name. Nugai. Just who the hell is he?!" Hades snapped. "I want to find him and crush him! And then crush his hope. Ah well, we will see how this world fares tomorrow."

* * *

><p><strong>File 1<strong>

**Do you want to save?**

**YES**

**Party: Alex, Zoroark, San, Saki, Isaac.**

* * *

><p><strong>I liked the little save screen idea from The Subspace Emissary's Worlds Conquest... So, I'm taking it.<strong>

**The new main character along with his, situation has been introduced. The fate of Nugai, what has happened the past 6 years since the ending of Trapped in the Brawl, and other stuff...**

**There are a few parts that I feel are a bit rough, I may go back and edit it.**

**Well that's it for the introduction. Let's get serious now!**

**Notes:**

**Alex is the main OC. It's not my real name… although before I decided on it, I was using my real name as a placeholder… Also, as I was glancing through the section I saw that there was another story with an OC named Alex, so I was debating about changing it. However, I chose the name for a reason.**

**_"It's called T.I.N.S.G.O.H. Corp." Cody said._ (TINSGOH, "There Is Nothing Suspicious Going On Here") I was thinking LMNORP Corp… just a generic placeholder, what it's supposed to be. But I saw TINSGOH elsewhere, (NaNoWriMo fourms, "Adopt an Organization")**

**With the nickname "Z" for Zoroark… In my mind I'm pronouncing it 'Zee', instead of the Canadian way of 'Zed'… **

**Hades… I was debating about keeping it a secret. On one hand… it would of allowed me to change it to someone else if I decided against it. On the other… The reveal I had planned was probably going to be really unceremonious, if I went with that…**

**So, back to the note at the top. About the Pokeball Pokemon and Assist Trophies. I have said previously that I saw the assist trophies as neglected characters. And I like to use them. The same goes for Pokeball Pokemon. In the early writing phases/planning I was hoping that Zoroark would be a playable character… But he's a Pokeball pokemon. Much like the name Alex, there is a reason why Zoroark is here. (Well, that and the whole illusion ability too, I thought that would be super helpful for some reason...)**


End file.
